Fell in love with a girl
by edenfalls81
Summary: Follows This Protector. The Alliance tries a new tactic to get River and her family back and River decides it's time to stop them for good.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Jayne sighed and climbed out of bed. He stretched and listened to his back crack loudly. It was still early at least an hour until the day cycle started, but he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep any longer. Zoe groaned and shifted in the bed. Jayne looked down in sympathy and leaned over to rub her back.

Being nearly eight months pregnant was draining on both Zoe and Jayne. Zoe was just plain exhausted from carrying a baby around and Jayne was worn out from the lack of sleep. Zoe tossed and turned all night, trying to find a position that would allow her to sleep comfortably, Jayne was woken up all through the night from her moving and groaning. Zoe had offered to sleep in her old bunk so he could get some sleep, but Jayne had made it clear that his woman didn't sleep alone, especially while she was expecting.

As soon as Zoe had settled down and fallen back to sleep Jayne crept quietly from the room and headed to the kitchen. He began making coffee thinking that he would need a big pot to make it through the day.

Once the coffee was finished he plopped down at the table with a large mug in front of him.

"Mornin Uncle Jayne."

Haven Reynolds wandered into the room in her night gown. The three year old was rubbing her eyes sleepily and dragging a tattered and much loved blanket across the ground. Without asking for permission she climbed into Jayne's lap and laid her head on his shoulder.

Jayne shifted so that he could hold the girl more securely and then rubbed her back.

"Hey Miss Vee. How come yer up so early?" He asked.

The little girl sighed and snuggled closer to the big merc. It still surprised Jayne that little Haven had chosen him to be her buddy. He still thought of himself as a tough gun hand, but apparently Vee had decided he was also best friend material. At first when she'd begun to follow him around he'd complained, but honestly he kind of liked having the little girl around.

"My head feels fuzzy." She said softly into his chest.

"Yer head feels funny huh? What's that mean?" He asked.

Haven sighed again and looked at Jayne like he was the three year old and she was the adult.

"Just feels fuzzy. Kinda hot and it hurts." She explained.

Jayne realized that her head against his chest did feel hot. He raised one hand and placed it on the little girl's forehead.

"Well little girl ya got a fever, that's why yer heads hurtin. Best we go down and get yer Uncle Simon ta take a look at you." Jayne suggested and stood up with Haven in his arms.

"He'll give me a shot. I hate shots." Haven complained.

"Well I ain't fond of em either, but if it makes ya better then ya gotta get it." Jayne pointed out.

Haven nodded and laid her head down on Jayne's shoulder.

"You want I should wake yer folks?" Jayne asked as they walked past Mal and River's room.

"No they need their sleep. Mommy had a bad night." She said wisely.

Jayne was once again amazed by how grown up the little girl sounded. She and her sister Annabelle had inherited their mother's intelligence. Sometimes it was scary how smart the girls were, they always seemed so much older than their three years.

"You sure Little Bit?" He asked again.

She nodded once more and clung to Jayne a bit tighter. Jayne knocked on the door to Simon and Kaylee's room and waited for a reply.

"Yeah?" Came Kaylee's sleepy voice.

"Hey Doc we need ya out here." Jayne said through the door.

Within a second Simon threw the door open and looked at Jayne anxiously.

"Is it the baby?" He asked.

"No Zoe's fine. But Vee here ain't feelin so hot and seems she's got a fever." Jayne explained.

Simon looked with concern at his niece and placed his hand on her forehead.

"Alright well let's go down to the infirmary and see what's going on." Simon suggested.

Jayne set Vee down on the exam table and stood back so that the doctor could examine her.

"Where's it hurt Vee?" Simon asked.

"My head hurts Uncle Simon. It's pounding and my back hurts too." She replied sadly.

Simon gave the little girl a hug and kissed the top of her head. "Well let's see what we can do to make you feel better."

Simon spent the next few minutes taking her temperature and running a few other tests. Once he was finished he pulled out a syringe and a vial of medicine.

"Do I have to have a shot Uncle Simon? I don't like em." She asked fearfully.

"I'm sorry Vee, but it'll make you feel better I promise." Simon replied.

"Here Vee you just hold onta my hand and it'll be over before you know it." Jayne suggested.

Haven looked up at Jayne and gave him a brave smile before grasping his hand. She then turned to Simon and nodded. "I'm ready Uncle Simon." She said seriously.

Simon hurried and gave her the injection. When he was finished he also gave her a small plastic cup of some sort of pink medicine.

"Okay this will take your fever down and the shot will help get rid of the virus that's making you sick." Simon explained.

Haven nodded solemnly and gave Simon a hug. "Thank you Uncle Simon."

"No problem Vee, but now I think you should get back in bed and try to get some more sleep." He instructed using his best doctor tone of voice.

"Can I have a glass of juice first?" She asked.

"Of course you can. You go climb in bed and I'll bring your juice down to you." Simon suggested.

"Uncle Jayne will you tuck me in?" She asked looking up at Jayne with large pleading eyes that he couldn't resist.

"You got it kid." Jayne picked up Vee and carried her to her room while Simon headed to the kitchen to get her juice.

He walked into the girls' room quietly so that he wouldn't wake Annabelle, who lay sprawled across her bed and was sleeping soundly. Jayne lay Haven on her bed and pulled the covers over her.

"You get some sleep now kid." He ordered. "I'll tell yer folks ya ain't feelin good when they wake up."

"Anna isn't feelin good either." She whispered.

"She ain't huh? She tell ya that before you fell asleep?" He asked.

"No just know." She said sleepily.

Jayne shook his head at the way the little girl knew her sister. It seemed that the twins had not only inherited their mother's intelligence, but her reading abilities as well.

"Well you go ta sleep and when ya wake up that medicine'll be workin and you'll feel better."

Haven gave him a bright smile and turned over so that she could snuggle down in her bed further. "Uncle Jayne will you sing me a song? Please." She asked and gave him that same doe eyed look she always used on him to get her way.

"Alright but don't be tellin everyone I sing." Jayne ordered.

"I won't."

Jayne cleared his throat and took a deep breath.

**Jayne the man they call Jayne… **

Simon walked into the galley to get Haven's juice and found Zoe sitting at the table staring longingly at the coffee pot.

"Morning Zoe. Still craving coffee?" He asked.

"You have no idea." She replied sadly.

"Only one more month and then you can go back to living on caffeine, although as your doctor I don't recommend that." He joked.

"Ha ha very funny Doc. You're lucky I'm too fat to hurt you." She replied.

Simon smiled and walked over to where Zoe sat at the table. He reached one hand out and placed it on her belly and was delighted when he felt the baby kicking against his hand.

"So how is my boy doing today?" He asked.

"Doin fine. One more month and you'll be a daddy." Zoe said smiling up at Simon.

Simon returned the smile and laughed when his son kicked again. "I can't wait." He replied eagerly.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Mal walked into the kitchen to find Simon beaming with his hand placed on Zoe's stomach. It was still strange for Mal to see his best friend and first mate pregnant. Zoe had always been a tough warrior woman, seeing her with a large round belly was something Mal had never imagined and thinking it was Simon's baby in there was a whole level of weirdness he hadn't been quite prepared for.

"Mornin you two." He said brightly and headed towards the coffee pot. He took a long drink and savored the taste of actual coffee. Even three years after winning the lottery things like real coffee and non-protein mush food were still thrilling.

"Mal you may want to go check on Vee. She woke up with a bit of a fever." Simon informed the Captain.

"She alright?" Mal asked instantly fearing the worst.

"She's fine. Just a touch of the flu. I gave her some antibiotics and something to bring the fever down. I'd say if she gets enough rest and fluids she'll be fine in a day or so." Simon reassured him.

Mal nodded with relief.

"I was just about to bring her a glass of juice." Simon explained and held up the glass of orange juice.

"I'll take it to her." Mal said at once.

Simon smiled and handed the juice over to the Captain. The one thing Simon admired about Mal above all else was his dedication to his family. Seeing the way River and Mal loved their girls really showed Simon just how badly the Tams had done in raising River and himself. He found it hard now to even think of Gabriel or Reagan as his parents at all. Simon hoped that when his own son was born he would be as good a father to him as Mal was to his girls.

Mal walked quietly to the door of the girl's room, not wanting to wake Vee if she had managed to fall back asleep already. To his delight he was able to catch Jayne singing the last verse of the Hero of Canton. Smiling widely Mal stepped into the room and behind his merc.

"Hi daddy." Vee said with a yawn.

Jayne instantly stiffened and turned to Mal with an embarrassed blush coloring his face.

"Um morning Captain." Jayne mumbled.

"Morning Jayne. Thanks for lookin after Vee." Mal said kindly.

Jayne smiled with relief thinking that Mal was going to let the singing pass without a comment.

"No problem. Guess I best go check on Zoe." Jayne said and hurried from the room.

"Hey Jayne." Mal called to the merc's back. "That was some real pretty singing. Maybe next time I can't sleep you'd sing ta me."

"Bizui you ass." Jayne muttered as he stomped down the hall.

From her bed Vee giggled, "You're funny daddy."

"Well I'm sure glad one person on this boat thinks I'm funny. How ya feelin little bit?" He asked.

"I'm ok daddy, but my head is really fuzzy." She sniffled.

"Well Uncle Simon says you'll be right as rain by tomorrow or the next day. Just gotta stay in bed and take yer medicine." Mal comforted.

Vee climbed out of bed and into Mal's lap. She reached one small hand up and began playing with the suspender on his right shoulder.

"Is mommy feeling better?" Vee asked.

Mal leaned his chin on the top of her head and sighed. "You know yer ma had a bad night?" He asked. He felt a chill run down his spine as his three year old daughter so easily used her skills as a reader.

She nodded under his chin and sighed again.

"Well she's sleepin now and I'm sure when she wakes up she'll be fine."

Mal lifted Vee off his lap and tucked her back under the covers. "You get some sleep now little bit. I need my co-captain all better so you can help me keep these jokers in line."

Vee giggled at their private joke and nodded. "I will Captain."

"Daddy I don't feel good." Annabelle said sleepily from her bed.

"You too huh?" Mal replied and picked Annabelle up from her bed. "Well let's go see Uncle Simon and he can you fixed up too. Vee you stay in bed and rest." Mal ordered as he carried Annabelle from the room.

Mal found Simon in the infirmary taking a scan of Zoe's belly.

"Got another patient for you Doc." Mal informed Simon as he set Annabelle down on the other exam table.

"Anna are you sick too?" Simon asked sympathetically.

"Yep my head hurts really bad Uncle Simon." She said.

"Well let me finish the scan of the baby and then we'll see about making you feel better."

"Is the baby doing good?" Annabelle asked as she studied the scan of the baby on the screen above her.

"He's doing just fine. One more month and you'll have a new baby cousin." Simon answered excitedly

"Alright Zoe I'm finished. Everything looks fine." Simon told Zoe as he helped her sit up from the table.

"How ya feelin today Zo?" Mal asked.

"Really fat Sir thanks for asking." Zoe muttered.

"Um yeah that sucks, but you look great." Mal stuttered not wanting to piss off the pregnant woman.

"Uh-huh. Don't patronize me Sir." Zoe said as she left the room.

"Wow she's such a sunny person to begin with, but them pregnancy hormones really make her shiny don't they?" Mal griped sarcastically.

Simon gave Mal a smile and then picked up Annabelle and set her on the main exam table. He quickly took her temperature and did a scan like he had done on Vee.

"Well she and Vee definitely have the same flu bug." He commented a moment later and began to prepare a syringe of antibiotics.

"Daddy I don't wanna shot." She whimpered and clung to Mal's arm.

"I know bao-bei, but it'll make you better and if yer little sister can handle it then I'm sure you can too."

Anna pouted and then stuck her tongue out at her father. Mal had to smile at how much she looked like her mother just then.

"Fine." She said sounding unbelievably put out.

Once Simon had given her the injection and the same pink children's medicine Mal put Anna back to bed with a glass of juice just like her sister.

He bumped into Kaylee coming out of her bunk as he was leaving the girls' room.

"Mornin Cap'n." She said brightly.

"Mornin Kaylee."

"You seen my husband anywhere?" Kaylee asked as she passed him in the hallway.

"Yep he's in the infirmary. The girls got the flu so he's been gettin em all fixed up."

"Ahhh poor kids. I'll come in later and read em a story." Kaylee promised as she headed towards the infirmary.

She found Simon reviewing the scan of the baby that he had just taken.

"Good morning ai-ren." She whispered and kissed the back of his neck.

"Good morning my beautiful wife." Simon said and turned around so that he could embrace her tightly.

"How's our boy doin today?" She asked eagerly studying the scan of their son.

"Doing fine. He's getting big I think I may have to induce Zoe a little early."

"Really? Is that safe?" She asked worriedly.

"Once he's big enough it's perfectly safe I promise." Simon assured her.

He watched Kaylee study the scan and saw the way her hand absently pressed to her own flat stomach. The small gesture made Simon feel his guilt as strongly as if it were a hot brand.

It was his fault Kaylee couldn't carry their child. Kaylee didn't see it like that and she made him promise more than once to stop blaming himself, but he knew secretly he always would. It was Dobson's bullet that had caused the damage to her womb and it was his fault Dobson had shot her.

After he'd found out that Kaylee couldn't carry a baby he'd spent months running through everything he'd done when he had removed the bullet from her abdomen. Maybe if he hadn't bargained with her life things would have been different. Perhaps it was those few precious wasted minutes that had changed everything. Or if he had just used a different procedure when he'd operated he could have fixed her properly.

It was the what-if questions like these that were nearly driving him insane. He would never know exactly what it was that had caused the damage and he worried that he'd spend the rest of his life asking himself these questions.

Kaylee glanced up from the scan and saw the expression on Simon's face.

"Hey now none a that!" She ordered.

"None of what?" He asked innocently.

"You got that same dark sad look on yer face you get when yer thinking about me and the baby." Kaylee accused.

"I'm sorry I just keep thinking about the surgery, I should have done things differently. If I had just…"

"Simon stop!" Kaylee interrupted. "You've been doing this for a year and a half. It's time to let it go. In one month me and you are gonna have a beautiful baby boy, how he gets here ain't important."

"I just know how sad you are that you can't carry him. I hate myself for my part in what happened to you." He said regretfully.

"Simon I won't lie to ya. Yeah it does bother me I can't have a baby and it probably always will a bit. But I'm not going to let it ruin my life. I'm gonna be a mom and yer gonna be a dad, can't we just be happy about that and forget the rest?" Kaylee asked and pulled Simon into her embrace.

Simon tried to avoid reading people whenever he could. He hated invading people's minds in that way. But as Kaylee held him he allowed himself to peek into her mind for a moment. To his relief he found that she was telling him the truth. She didn't blame him for what had happened and the only thing he could feel coming from her was love.

"You're an amazing woman Kaylee Tam." He whispered into her ear.

"Ya ain't so bad yerself." She giggled and then pulled him out of the infirmary and into their bunk.

After checking to make sure they were still on course Mal stuck his head into his daughters' room and was happy to see that both the twins had fallen back to sleep. He smiled to see that the twins were sleeping in nearly identical positions; both of them were sprawled across the bed with one arm flung over their eyes.

He was still amazed at how identical the twins were. While the crew always knew which one was which people who didn't know the girls could never tell them apart, even Fanty and Mingo had not been as identical as his girls were.

Once he had assured himself that the girls were resting comfortably he slipped into his bunk to check on River. It had been a bad night for her; she'd been woken frequently because of her reading abilities and nightmares. Mal hoped she would sleep in and catch up on some much needed rest but she was awake when he walked into the room.

"Hey bao-bei. I was hopin you'd get some more sleep this mornin." Mal said as he climbed onto the bed to lie next to his wife.

"Can't sleep." She muttered.

Mal was concerned when he heard the tone of her voice and saw the disjointed look in her eyes. He couldn't remember the last time River had had an episode, but today she looked dangerously close to having one.

"So what's going on love? You look like somethins botherin ya." Mal asked with concern.

River shrugged her shoulders and furrowed her brow. "The girls are sick." She said simply.

"Yeah but Simon says it ain't serious and they been sick before. You don't gotta worry about em." Mal comforted.

"Something isn't right." She whispered.

"What do ya mean?"

"I don't know. Just feel it." She said sadly and leaned over so that she could rest her head on Mal's shoulder.

As soon as she touched him Mal could tell something was wrong. "Bao-bei you got a fever too." He said as he felt her forehead.

Standing up he grabbed River's hands and pulled her up from the bed. "Come on lets go see yer brother." He ordered.

River grumbled and complained the entire way down to the infirmary. When they got there they found the room empty.

"Don't know where yer brother is, he was just here a bit ago." Mal commented.

"He's having sex with Kaylee." She informed him.

"Ya know you could just tell me he's busy." Mal complained.

River smirked at him and smiled wickedly. "But I love seeing that look on your face."

Mal smiled and hugged his wife. He was once again reminded of her fever when he pulled her into his arms.

"Well let's see if we can find ya something to take that fever down without bothering yer brother or Kaylee." Mal said and began searching through the cupboards. "Bao-bei you got any clue where your brother keeps the fever reducers?" Mal asked while still digging through the cabinets.

When River failed to answer him he turned around and was surprised to see that she was no longer sitting on the exam table. He walked around to the other side of the table and found River curled in a ball under the counter.

"River love? What's wrong?" He asked as he knelt down to her level.

She rocked back and forth with her hands pressed over her ears and her eyes squeezed tightly shut. Mal was torn between wanting to stay with her and wanting to get Simon to give her a smoother.

Standing quickly he pushed the button on the comm unit on the wall.

"Simon get down to the infirmary ma-shong!" He yelled and then returned to River.

"Come on bao-bei focus on me. What's goin on? You seein something?" He asked as he rubbed her arm soothingly.

"Piranhas in the veins. Swimming and biting and eating and killing. Infecting and murdering." She mumbled and began to cry.

"Ok. Um can ya maybe explain that ta me a little plainer?" Mal asked.

River suddenly looked up at Mal with wide frightened eyes. She grasped his hands in both of hers.

"Hands of blue! Set the hounds on us and they sniffed out the scent. Foxes can't hide in the forest anymore. The hands of blue are coming for us!"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Simon rushed into the infirmary a minute later and looked in shock at his sister cowering on the floor.

"What happened?" He asked.

"Not quite sure. She's got the flu like the girls so I brought her in to get her some medicine. I turned around and when I turned back she was on the floor. She was talkin about the blue hands." Mal explained.

Simon's face visibly paled at the words 'blue hands' but he simply nodded and began to prepare a smoother for River. It kicked in a few minutes later and River relaxed against Mal's chest. He picked her up easily and laid her on the table so that Simon could examine her.

He ran the same set of tests he'd run on the girls and then gave her the same injection of antibiotics.

Simon picked up the results of River's scan as well as the results of the twins' as well. Mal became concerned when Simon frowned in confusion as he read the scans.

"Somethin wrong Doc?" He asked.

"Um no nothings wrong it's just a little strange. All three of them have the exact same virus." Simon muttered.

"Ain't they all supposed to have the same virus if they all got the same thing?" Mal asked.

"Well yes, but usually there are some differences depending on the person the virus is in. But all three of them have exactly the same thing. I've just never seen that before." He elaborated.

"Do we need ta be worried about it?" Mal asked.

"I don't think so. I mean they aren't seriously ill, it's just a little odd." Simon assured him.

The men grew quite for a few minutes and stood listening to the sound of River's steady breathing.

"I can't believe she had an episode. She's been doing so well." Simon said sadly.

"Wish I coulda understood what she was tryin to tell me. You're a reader too have you got any idea what it is that's upsettin her?" Mal asked.

Simon closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He let his mind open up to read as much as possible. Instantly he was bombarded with the thoughts and emotions of every single person on board. Concentrating hard he tried to sort through the bedlam of noise to find what had upset River.

Sighing in frustration a few minutes later Simon opened his eyes and rubbed his temples. He had gotten nothing from the attempt except a splitting head ache.

"Sorry Mal I have no idea what upset her so badly." He said and continued to massage his temples.

"Thanks for trying. Sorry bout the headache. Do you think it has anything to do with what happened on Aberdeen?" Mal asked.

Simon winced at the mention of Aberdeen, but quickly wiped the look of pain off of his face.

"It's been over a year and she never had any episodes then. I can't imagine it would set her off now." He answered.

Mal felt guilty for bringing up Aberdeen to Simon. He should have known it would upset the doctor. One year before they had been planet side on Aberdeen for a few days to shop and for Kaylee to give Serenity's engine a tune up. River had been in town with Zoe shopping when a bar fight had broken out down the street. One man pulled a gun and was able to fire off a single shot before he was subdued. That one stray bullet had hit River from half a block away. Zoe had been able to get River back to Serenity soon enough for Simon to save her life.

Simon had been able to save his sister's life but he hadn't been able to save his daughter. River had been four months pregnant with Simon and Kaylee's baby when she was shot.

Simon cleared his throat and turned to get himself a pain reliever from a cupboard.

"Well hopefully when she wakes up she'll be able to explain what upset her." He said trying to change the subject.

"She ok to go back to our room?" Mal asked.

"Yes she should be fine, unless she's still having an episode when she wakes up. Then just come get me." Simon instructed.

Mal nodded and scooped River up from the table and carried her from the room.

Simon closed his eyes and leaned against the wall wishing that the pounding in his head would disappear.

"Simon ya got a wave coming in." Jayne suddenly said through the comm unit.

The doctor stiffened in surprise and wondered who in the Verse would be waving him.

"Thanks Jayne. Can you send it down here please?" Simon asked.

He waited a few seconds until he heard the beep of an incoming wave. He turned the Cortex screen on and then jolted in horror when he saw who was on the screen.

"Dr. Tam I trust you remember me." Captain Syler said with a syrupy sweetness that made Simon want to vomit.

"Remember the man who captured me and sent me to have my brain cut up? You really think I could forget?" Simon snapped. "How did you find us?"

"It wasn't hard. I just had a bulletin posted for a Firefly class ship. We got a hit six months ago on Three Hills." Syler explained.

"Six months ago? And you haven't come in with guns blazing to recapture us? I'm a little surprised, why are you waving me now?" Simon asked.

"I think I can admit to you that our attempts to reclaim you and your sister have not gone well. Apparently the Academy was a little too successful when they created the both of you, I must say you're very impressive."

"Thanks." Simon sneered sarcastically. "But you still haven't told me why you're waving me now."

"Has anyone on board come down with the flu recently?" Syler asked suddenly.

_Wuh de ma! How closely have they been watching us?_ Simon thought in horror.

"I'll take your silence to mean yes." Syler replied with a small laugh.

"How did you know?" Simon asked.

"Dr. Tam do you really think the Academy didn't foresee that someday one of our subjects would escape? There have been contingency plans in place since before you were born in the event that you or your sister escaped."

Simon felt a chill run up his back and knew that whatever Syler was about to tell him was going to be terrible.

"When your genetic sequence was manipulated before your birth the Academy planted something in your DNA to be activated in the event of your escape."

"If there was something in our DNA that the Academy could use to recapture us why wouldn't they have done it years ago?" Simon asked suspiciously.

"Oh it isn't to be used to recapture you. It's used to eliminate you. I've activated a virus that has been dormant in your DNA. It should read as the simple flu at first, but trust me when I say it is designed to kill you."

"Why- why would you bother telling me this?" Simon whispered.

"Because I don't want to kill you, I want to bring you back to the Academy. If you and your sister will surrender yourselves I'll happily provide you with the antidote to the virus." Syler offered.

Simon had to swallow the knot in his throat before he could speak.

"Do you really think we'll just turn ourselves in? I've personally experienced what the Academy does, I think I'd rather die than go back to that."

"Oh trust me Dr. Tam I've considered that. But never the less I believe you'll do what I say." Syler replied confidently.

"Why?"

"Because it isn't just your life and your sister's that will end. Those sweet little twins of River's, Annabelle and Haven correct? River has passed the gene with the virus to them, just as you've passed it to your unborn son. You may be willing to sacrifice your life and your sister's but are you really willing to sacrifice your child?"

Simon felt his heart sink when he realized that the three innocent children in his family were in danger as well.

"I promise you Dr. Tam if you and River return to the Academy I guarantee you I will cure the children as well. And I will make sure they are left alone. The Academy isn't interested in them, their genes aren't pure the way yours are. If you return I can promise they will live out the rest of their lives without our interference."

Simon didn't know what to say and simply stared at the Alliance official in shock.

"I'll give you some time to think this through. We'll speak again tomorrow." Syler said and ended the wave.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Simon sat staring at the now blank monitor for nearly five minutes. He couldn't seem to wrap his mind around what had just happened and felt almost numb with panic.

Suddenly he jumped up and frantically began moving around the room. He quickly drew a blood sample from himself and ran it through the scanner. His heart sank when he saw that he too tested positive for the virus he had thought was simply the flu. Using the rest of the blood sample he ran a full biological scan and saw that Syler hadn't lied, the virus was in his very DNA. He took his temperature and was dismayed to see that it was elevated by a degree or two, although he still felt fine.

Simon hurried from the room and to the engine room where he found his wife working under the engine.

"Kaylee I have some work to do in the infirmary, delicate stuff that needs my full attention. Do you think you could let the crew know to stay out of there for a few hours?" He asked trying desperately not to let his panic come through in his voice.

Kaylee climbed out from under the engine and gave him a bright smile.

"Sure thing ai-ren. Everything shiny?"

"Yes just a few tests I want to run on some new medicine for River." He lied knowing that no one would question it if he said he was working on something for his mei-mei.

Kaylee nodded sympathetically. "I'll make sure everyone leaves ya alone to work."

Simon gave her a tight smile and hurried back to the infirmary. Once there he pulled down the blinds and locked the door, ensuring his privacy.

He spent the rest of the morning and into the afternoon taking blood samples from himself and running a variety of tests. Once he'd completed a full diagnostic DNA scan on the virus he began trying different combinations of drugs to try and stop the illness.

Cursing loudly four hours later Simon threw the slide he'd been examining across the room where it shattered on the wall and left a splatter of his blood behind. He'd tried every medicine and treatment he could think of on his blood samples and the virus still remained.

"Hey ai-ren you comin out anytime today?" Kaylee asked through the door, sounding worried about how long he'd been shut up in the infirmary.

"Yes just give me a few more minutes and I'll be out." He called and set about cleaning up the blood and broken glass.

When he emerged to the galley he found Kaylee feeding the twins lunch. The rest of the crew was no where in sight. Both girls smiled happily when they saw their Uncle Simon enter the room. It was enough to steal Simon's breath and nearly bring him to tears, seeing his beautiful nieces and knowing what was wrong with them. He quickly pushed the sad thoughts from his mind, not wanting the girls to pick up on what he was feeling or thinking.

"Hey girls how are you feeling?" He asked brightly, covering the sadness that was threatening to overwhelm him.

"Better Uncle Simon." They replied in unison.

Simon walked over and felt each of their foreheads. He noted that while their fevers were lower they still remained and with the medicine he'd given them earlier the fevers should have been completely gone by then.

"Where are Mal and River?" Simon asked Kaylee.

"River ain't woken up yet. Mal went down to sit with her."

"Thanks I'm going to go check on her." He said quickly and hurried from the room.

He could hear River before he reached the door and knew instantly that she still wasn't lucid.

"Come on bao-bei can ya just tryin and tell me what yer seein. I can fix it I promise." Mal coaxed as Simon listened through the door.

He knocked gently and waited until Mal cracked the door open slightly.

"She just woke up Doc and she ain't doin any better." Mal whispered and opened the door so that Simon could see River curled into a ball on the bed rocking back and forth as she cried.

Simon hurried over to sit on the side of the bed and took both of River's hands in his own.

"Hey mei-mei. I think I know what's upsetting you. I promise we'll figure something out." Simon whispered and was encouraged when River looked into his eyes.

"It's in the blood Simon. Flowing and poisoning." She whispered.

"I know mei-mei, I know. But I'll find a way to get rid of it."

"Doc you wanna let me in on what's the bad here?" Mal asked sounding frustrated.

"I just received a wave from Captain Syler from the Alliance. He was the one who sent us to the Academy." Simon reminded Mal.

"Ain't like to forget him. How in the ruttin hell did he find us?" Mal asked.

"They found us six months ago when we were planet side on Three Hills. He knew a lot about us I think they've been doing surveillance on us this whole time."

Mal stood up and let loose a string of curses in both Mandarin and English as he paced the small room over and over.

"Don't seem like the Alliance ta just sit back and watch for this long without tryin something." He finally commented.

"Mal he told me…" Simon began, but then trailed off not sure how to tell them what he'd learned.

"Alright I'm getting this is bad so just spit it out." He ordered.

"Apparently before both River and I were born the Academy planned for the possibility that someday we would escape their control. They implanted a virus into our DNA. Syler activated the virus yesterday. If River and I turn ourselves into the Alliance they'll give us the antidote."

Mal's face paled as his brain put together everything Simon was explaining to him.

"The flu that River and the girls got?" He asked his voice cracking with emotion.

Simon nodded and held onto River's hands tighter when she started to cry again. "I know this is bad River, but you've got to try and pull it together. If we're going to figure something out I'm going to need your help."

River continued to stare at Simon with confused and frightened eyes, but after a minute her eyes cleared and she nodded. "Alright Simon. What are we going to do?"

"Honestly I have no idea. I've tried everything I can think of to stop the virus, but nothing has worked so far. Hopefully some of the tests that I'm still working on will have results soon, but we'll just have to wait and see." He replied wishing that he had something more positive to tell his sister.

"I'm confused. If this is somethin they put in you before you were born then how come the girls are sick? They didn't have nothin like that happen to them." Mal asked, still pacing the room.

"Because they share River's DNA. The dormant virus was passed to them and when the Academy activated the virus it activated in them as well."

"What about the baby Simon?" River asked suddenly.

"I'll need to run some tests on Zoe, but he probably does have the virus." Simon answered sadly.

The three sat in silence for a few minutes. Finally Mal stopped pacing and sat down on the other side of River.

"Bao-bei we're going to fix this. I'll fix this. Our girls ain't goin nowhere and neither are you, or Simon, or the baby." He assured her confidently.

River nodded and threw her arms around Mal's neck and buried her face into his shoulder. He held her tightly, running a hand through her long hair to try and comfort her, but all the time thinking about the fever he could feel burning off of her.

"We have to tell the others." He said to Simon.

"I know." Simon replied sadly and left the room so that the couple could have some privacy.

An hour later River put the twins in their room with a video from the Cortex to entertain them and everyone gathered in the galley. Simon spent an hour laying out everything he had learned from Captain Syler and from the tests he had run that day.

He finished talking and was met with silence by everyone else. They sat around the table everyone lost in their own thoughts for nearly ten minutes. It was a small sob from Kaylee that finally broke the silence.

"Is the baby sick?" She asked fearfully.

"I don't know bao-bei I'll need to run some tests on Zoe to know for sure."

"What are we gonna do?" Jayne asked.

"Maybe Simon and I should turn ourselves in. You said Syler was telling the truth. If we turn ourselves in then everyone will be safe." River whispered.

"No!" Mal, Simon, and Jayne all shouted at the same time.

"Bao-bei that ain't gonna happen. This is the Alliance we're talkin about. There ain't no way that they'll take you and Simon and then just give us the antidote for the kids. They'll take them too." Mal said.

"But if Syler was telling the truth…" She protested.

"He maybe tellin the truth as he knows it. But that don't mean that the people he works for don't have other plans he ain't aware of."

River nodded sadly seeing the wisdom of her husband's argument.

"I think we should wait until Syler waves again tomorrow. River is a much better reader than I am, maybe if she is there when he waves she can pick up something that I missed." Simon suggested.

Everyone murmured their agreement to Simon's plan and stood up from the table. Simon pulled Kaylee into an embrace, hoping to stop her tears.

"Zoe can you come down to the infirmary so I can run some tests?" He asked.

Zoe nodded and walked with him and Kaylee to the infirmary. Simon ran the same tests on her that he'd run on River and the twins.

"The baby has the virus." Simon told the two women a few minutes later.

Kaylee began to cry louder and Zoe's hands cradled her stomach protectively at the news.

"Am I going to get sick too?" Zoe asked quietly.

"Yes." He answered honestly. "You and the baby are sharing the same blood right now, he's passed the virus to you. I'm sorry."

"Ain't your fault Simon. I just wanted to know." Zoe assured him.

"I'd better go tell Jayne." Zoe said and quickly left the room.

Kaylee fell into Simon's arms as soon as Zoe had left the room and began to cry again.

"I can't lose another baby Simon and I can't lose you." She gasped between sobs.

"You won't bao-bei I promise. Think of everything this crew has gone through. If we can get through all of that we can get through this." Simon whispered into her ear.

Simon took Kaylee to their room and held her until she finally stopped crying and dropped off to sleep. Once he knew she was sleeping deeply he slipped out of the room and returned to the infirmary to continue working. He worked late into the night, trying every treatment or procedure he could think of to combat the virus, but having no success.

"Simon. Simon wake up."

Simon opened his eyes and glanced around the room in confusion. He'd fallen asleep in the infirmary, slumped over the counter. River was standing next to him shaking his shoulder when he opened his eyes.

"Simon the wave from Syler just came in."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Simon stood and stretched trying to work the painful kinks out of his neck and back. Once he was able to stand up straight without pain he looked at River and saw the look of fear on her face. River was the bravest person Simon knew, but when it came to the lives of her children she was every bit as emotional as any other mother.

He gave her what he hoped was a brave smile and squeezed her shoulder before turning on the monitor.

"Doctor Tam I expect it was a rough night for you." Syler began with a snide smile.

"Oh no I slept great. Learning I've been infected with a deadly disease always knocks me right out." Simon snapped sarcastically.

"Good morning Mrs. Reynolds. I hope you've both decided to make the right decision now that you've had time to think about things. The Academy is only seeking to make you the best that you can possibly be. You'll be safe as well as your children. I realize it's a sacrifice, but this is the life that was meant for both of you." Syler said.

"Spoken like a true zealot. Don't you ever stop and think about what the Alliance asks you to do. We have families, children, people who love us. And you're willing to let us and them die if we won't submit to the torture your superiors want to subject us to." River remarked.

"It's not my place to ask questions." Was his only reply.

"Have you come to a decision?" He asked after a few seconds.

"First I want you to answer some questions for me." Simon ordered.

Syler nodded and gave Simon a confident smile. "Certainly. I was a little disappointed you didn't ask me more questions when we spoke previously."

"How did you activate the virus?" Simon asked slipping fully into doctor mode.

"It was a simple amino slipped into your last supply of milk. We were able to get a hold of your shipping order before you landed on Persephone three days ago. Then it was simple to make sure that the milk you ordered had the amino placed into it." Syler explained.

"Oh and don't worry the amino is completely harmless to anyone who doesn't have the dormant virus in their DNA. The rest of your crew is safe." He added.

"What can you tell me about the virus?" Simon asked next.

"It's very similar to yellow fever, but works at a much slower rate. A low fever appears within the first two days and gradually grows higher. Muscle aches, headaches, and delirium all follow the onset of the symptoms. I warn you it isn't pleasant and it's a very slow acting virus. If you don't comply with our demands it will be unpleasant and drawn out for the both of you and your children." Syler threatened.

"And you've said there is an antidote? Why should we turn ourselves in if there is a cure, I'm a skilled doctor, aren't you worried that I'll find the cure without the Academy's intervention?" Simon asked.

Syler laughed and again gave Simon the confident smile that made Simon want to punch him in the face.

"I can assure you Doctor Tam you won't find the cure for this virus. You need us."

River and Simon exchanged a short glance and she nodded slightly at her brother. Simon felt his hope rise slightly. If what he'd just read from Syler was correct, it could be the miracle they were hoping for.

"What guarantee do we have that if we do as you say you'll help our children and that they won't be taken as well?" River asked.

"Well you'll just have to trust me on that one. But I promise you as soon as you are in custody I will personally deliver the antidote to your ship and I guarantee they will be left alone to grow up untroubled." Syler said

"And you think that depriving them of one of their parents is going to leave them untroubled?" Simon asked angrily.

"I understand it's a sacrifice but you have no choice. You belong to the Alliance. We created you, we own you."

"Not even my husband owns me you liou coe shway duh biao-tze huh hoe-tze duh ur-tze." River sneered.

"There's no need for that kind of language Mrs. Reynolds. I'm simply the messenger."

"No you're the man who shot my husband, captured him my brother and I, and sent us to a place where they tortured us and cut into Simon's brain. And now you want to do it again. I think my language was perfectly appropriate." River retorted.

"So what are your terms exactly?" Simon asked changing the subject.

"Return to Persephone in three days time. Mrs. Reynolds and yourself will disembark at the docks and come quietly with me. If you do as I say and don't try anything then I will deliver the vaccine to Serenity as soon as you are both secure in my ship." Syler explained.

Simon and River looked away from the monitor and at each other for a few seconds. Using their skills as readers they didn't have to speak to come to a decision. Simon turned back to the monitor and smiled the same confident smile that Syler had been giving him.

"As great as that deal sounds I'm afraid we're going to have to decline. See the problem is you're an idiot. There is no way the Alliance is going to let the twins or my son go. I'm sure once you have us in custody they'll order you to take them as well. And then this whole big sacrifice you keep telling River and I to make will have been for nothing. So thanks anyway, but we'll figure something out on our own." Simon said and heard River suppress a giggle beside him.

"All of you will die then." Syler stated.

"If we do at least we'll die in our home with our family and not as lab rats locked in a cage." River answered.

"You have my wave information if you change your mind. And trust me you will." Slyer replied confidently and the wave terminated.

Simon let out a deep breath and hugged River to him.

"If this doesn't work mei-mei…" Simon began but then stopped not wanting to finish the sentence.

"It will work Simon, I know you'll find the antidote. And now that we know what we need to find the cure, all we have to do is get it."

"You say that like it's going to be simple. If we can't find them, then this won't work." Simon replied.

"We'll find them Simon. We have to."

They were interrupted then by a knock on the infirmary door.

"Jayne said the wave from Syler came through a few minutes ago." Mal said as he stuck his head through the door.

"It did." River answered.

"And? What'd you say?" Mal asked as he walked fully into the room.

"We basically told him to qù nǐ māde." Simon explained with a grin.

"So you got a plan?" The captain asked.

"We were able to read him ai-ren. He gave something away, the secret behind the cure." River informed her husband as she stood up to embrace him.

"The cure? You figured out what it is?" Mal asked excitedly.

"No but we know what we need to create the vaccine. Its just getting it that will be hard." Simon responded.

"Why what is it ya need?" Mal asked.

"We need blood. Special blood." River answered.

"What in the ruttin hell is special blood?" Mal asked.

"The virus is DNA based, so the cure is as well. The vaccine for the virus is created using cells from the source of the DNA." Simon explained.

"Ok and that means in non-genius-doctor speak?"

"We need blood samples from our parents. Our biological parents." River supplied.

"Ya mean the people who let the Alliance experiment on their kids and then give em away to other people?" Mal asked.

"Yes those would be the parents we're talking about." River confirmed.

"Oh so this won't be hard at all then huh?" Mal asked sarcastically.


	6. Chapter 6

I don't own Firefly or its characters. Figured I should add that now that I'm on chapter six.

Chapter 6

The first thing Zoe felt when she woke up was the baby kicking against her ribs, the second thing she felt was the rhythm of her pulse pounding painfully in her head. She groaned and rubbed her stomach with one hand and her temple with the other.

"You alright Zo?" Jayne asked from beside her when her groan of pain woke him up.

"I'm alright Jayne." She assured him.

Jayne sat up and looked at Zoe not convinced at all that she was fine. One look at her confirmed for Jayne that she wasn't alright. Her face was ashen and shiny with sweat and her eyes had a glazed over look to them.

"You got a fever bao-bei." Jayne stated with concern as he pressed a hand to her cheek.

Zoe nodded and immediately regretted the action when the pounding in her head intensified. "Yeah Simon said that'd probably happen."

"Whatda ya mean Simon said that'd happen?" Jayne asked as he climbed out of bed and began to get dressed.

Zoe sighed and looked down at the sheets, avoiding Jayne's gaze. She hadn't told him the night before about the news of her being vulnerable to the illness as well.

"I got the same thing that Simon and the girls have." She explained.

"But you ain't a Tam, I thought the only people who could get sick were River and Simon and their kids… Oh its cause a the baby?" Jayne asked figuring out why Zoe was sick as well.

"Yes. I'm sorry." Zoe said softly.

"What in the hell do you got ta be sorry for?"

"Well I know you weren't happy about me carrying the baby in the first place and now I'm sick because of it."

Guilt wasn't an emotion Zoe allowed herself to feel very often. She had always felt that things in the past stayed there, dwelling on them solved nothing. But she felt her guilt strongly now. She and Jayne had been together for nearly five years now. That was longer than she'd had with Wash and yet she still kept Jayne at arm's length. When the twins had turned two Jayne had come to Zoe and asked her about having a baby of their own and Zoe had turned him down flat.

She had always imagined that if she ever had a child it would belong to her and Wash. She couldn't imagine having a child with anyone but him. And now here she was carrying her first baby and it didn't even belong to her. Not that she wasn't glad to be able to help Simon and Kaylee, they'd wanted a child so badly. After what had happened to River and their first baby she hadn't hesitated in offering to carry a child for them. But the decision had hurt Jayne, he wanted her to be carrying his child.

Now the decision was going to hurt him again.

"How come ya didn't tell me sooner." Jayne asked as he sat down heavily on the bed beside her.

"I knew you'd be mad. And I didn't want to worry you." She replied.

"Zo I ain't mad. You're doin a great thing fer Kaylee and the Doc. It might not be what I wanted but it was the right thing. And as fer you bein sick that ain't yer fault anymore than its Simon or River's." Jayne assured her and pulled her into a hug.

Zoe leaned her throbbing head against his shoulder and sighed with relief that he wasn't angry with her.

"Come on we gotta get ya up to Simon, see if he's got somethin ta bring that fever down." Jayne instructed and pulled Zoe to her feet.

They arrived in the infirmary to find Simon examining the twins. He gave them more of the pink fever reducer and then lifted them both down from the table.

"That medicine should make you feel a little better soon." Simon assured them and gave each girl a hug.

"How're the two little ladies feelin this mornin?" Jayne asked cheerfully as he and Zoe walked through the door.

"Uncle Jayne!" The girls shouted in unison and each one grabbed one of his legs in a tight hug.

Zoe had to smile despite the pain in her head. It still amazed her how wonderful Jayne was with the girls. As tough as he made himself appear to be, he had an amazingly soft heart when it came to children. He could be the rudest most insensitive person in the room one second and then one of the girls would walk in and suddenly he was a giant teddy bear. Seeing him like that made Zoe think perhaps she should rethink her decision about not wanting having a child with him.

"Doc Zoe here is runnin a fever too, think you could take a look at her?" Jayne asked and picked up both girls at once.

"Of course." Simon answered and patted the exam table.

"Me and the girls'll go see bout gettin some breakfast." Jayne said and carried the twins towards the galley.

"I'm sorry about this Zoe I really am." Simon said regretfully as he checked the baby's heart beat.

"Ain't yer fault Simon. No way you coulda known something like this would happen. I'm just hopin you figure somethin out ta get us all better." Zoe replied.

"We have an idea. Syler let something slip when I spoke to him this morning."

"Can't believe he'd just let something important slip like that." Zoe interrupted.

"Well he didn't actually say anything, he just thought it." Simon explained.

"Oh, guess he shoulda thought about the fact that he was talkin to a couple a readers huh." Zoe replied.

"Yeah, I've found that when people know you can hear their thoughts they tend to think about the one thing they really don't want anyone to know." Simon added.

"So what exactly was it that he was thinkin about?" Zoe asked.

"Well they created the virus and antidote using the base DNA strands from our biological parents. If we can find them and get a blood sample, I may have a shot of creating an antidote."

Zoe's eyes which had first lit up with the news that they had a clue to the antidote, dulled when Simon mentioned finding his parents.

"That even gonna be possible? Finding your parents I mean. Aren't we kinda workin on a tight schedule?" Zoe asked.

"Yes. As best I can figure with the way the virus is moving we have a month maybe. Although I have no idea what condition we'll be in by that point."

"Well no one can say you ain't a bright ray a sun shine Doc." Zoe muttered sarcastically.

"Sorry I just figure you'd want the truth of the matter." Simon defended.

"Guess you're right about that. So we got any idea how we're gonna so about searching the whole Verse for your folks in a few weeks?" Zoe asked.

Simon handed Zoe a cup full of medicine and waited until after she had swallowed it before he continued.

"I'm going to go through the data stick that Inara stole for us from her client. It's completely full of information on River and I. Hopefully there will be some mention of our birth parents that I just missed the first time I went through it."

"That our only hope?" Zoe asked doubtfully.

"River just set a course for Osiris."

"Osiris?"

"We're going to see our father. Gabriel Tam I mean. Maybe he knows something that can help and if not, maybe there's something in our old house. Files that my mother kept or just some clue that can help us."

"You're father? But what if he's working for the Academy like Reagan was? He could have the Feds there in minutes." Zoe protested.

"We thought of that Zoe. I'm going to wave him before we get there and River and I will both read him. If we get any hint that he's working for the Alliance we won't go. But right now this is about the only option we have."

Zoe nodded and gave Simon's shoulder a comforting squeeze. "It'll work out Simon."

Simon nodded and gave Zoe a brief smile. "You'll need to take that medicine every six hours to keep the fever down. It should work for awhile I hope."

"Thanks Doc."

Jayne trudged into the galley carrying a giggling girl in each arm. He was surprised that the girls were in such good moods considering the fact that they were sick. But the two Reynolds girls were usually cheery, even under difficult circumstances.

Mal looked up from the breakfast he was cooking to see Jayne walking into the galley carrying his daughters. They were both giggling as Jayne carried them in his large arms. Although they were both in good moods Mal could tell that they weren't feeling well. Their faces were pale and Mal could see the fever glistening in their eyes.

"Hi daddy! Whatcha makin fer breakfast?" Annabelle asked as Jayne set her on her feet.

"Makin my famous pancakes fer my girls. Sound good?" He asked holding up the spatula.

The girls cheered and raced over to hug their father tightly.

Mal carried two plates of pancakes to the table and helped the girls up into their seats while Jayne poured the syrup for them.

"Thank you Uncle Jayne. Thank you Daddy." They said in perfect unison.

Mal and Jayne exchanged an amused grin.

"There's plenty a pancakes if you want Jayne." Mal said and gestured towards the counter in the kitchen where a stack of food waited.

"Thanks Mal." Jayne said and hurried over to get himself breakfast.

"Have you told the girls? Bout the virus yet?" Jayne asked quietly so the girls wouldn't over hear.

"Not yet. River and I figured we'd talk to em after breakfast. She's up settin our course right now. Simon's got a plan fer getting a cure for the virus. I'll fill ya in on it later." Mal replied.

Jayne nodded and took his food over to the table.

When the girls finished eating they both slipped down from their chairs and headed out of the room and up to the bridge.

"Good morning my girls." River said brightly as she turned around in her seat.

"Hi mommy." Haven said.

"Mommy you're sad huh?" Annabelle asked as she climbed into River's lap.

"Cause we're sick." Haven added as she climbed onto River's other leg.

River cuddled both of the girls closer to her and hugged them tightly.

"I just don't like it when my babies are sick." She explained.

"Mommy we aren't babies." Haven complained.

"You'll always be my babies, no matter how old you are." River replied.

The girls giggled a little.

"You and Uncle Simon and Aunt Zoe are sick too." Annabelle stated with certainty.

"And the baby." Haven added.

"Yes we are. You're daddy is going to come up to the bridge soon and then we'll explain everything to you alright?" River said.

"Ok mommy." Haven said.

The girls grew quiet as River began to tell them the story of Snow White from Earth that was. They both loved old fairy tales from Earth that Was and Snow White was a big favorite of theirs.

Mal walked onto the bridge a few minutes later. River had both of the girls in her lap and was quietly telling them a fairy tale. Mal's heart warmed to see his three beautiful girls sitting together. The twins looked so much like River, except for the eyes, they had his eyes. The warm feeling was dashed as quickly as it had come when he remembered the danger his girls were in.

He had lost a lot in his life, more than most people he supposed, but he knew for a fact that he couldn't handle losing the three loves of his life. If he lost them he'd have no choice but to follow.

"Hey my lovely ladies." He said softly once River had finished recounting Snow White's adventures.

"Hi daddy." Haven said and climbed down from River's lap to climb into Mal's once he'd sat down in the co-pilot's seat.

"Girls yer ma and I gotta tell ya somethin. It's a complicated grownup thing but I think you girls are smart enough to understand." Mal began.

"Do you girls remember when we talked about the Alliance?" He asked.

The girls nodded, looking at their father solemnly.

"Do you remember what we told you about the Alliance?" River asked.

"The Liance is the people who run the planets. And sometimes they do good things, but sometimes they do really bad things. And Daddy fought a war gainst em cause he don't like em tellin him what to do." Annabelle recited seriously.

"Very good Anna." River complimented.

"Did they do somethin bad?" Haven asked picking up the thoughts from her mother and father.

"Yes girls they did. There are some very bad men who work for the Alliance. They are in charge of a place called the Academy. When I was a little girl I went there because they told my parents it was a school. But it wasn't a school, it was a bad place where they hurt mommy. But you're Uncle Simon came and saved me and I'm all better now." River explained, hating having to tell the girls about these things. She had always known she would tell them, but hadn't planned on doing so until they were much older.

"Like Rapunzel? Uncle Simon came and saved you from the bad witch." Annabelle asked.

"Kind of like that Anna. But these bad men they found us again. And they're the ones who made us sick."

"Did they sneeze on us? Cause Uncle Simon always says to cover your mouth when you sneeze or you'll make people sick." Haven asked.

Mal had to chuckle a little at that. "No bao-bei they didn't sneeze on you. They put something in our food and it made you all sick. But you don't have to worry cause we're going to a place where we can find the medicine we need to make all of you better." He promised and gave Haven a kiss on top of her head.

"Is it gonna be another shot?" Annabelle asked suspiciously.

"Probly will be love. But it'll make ya better and that's the most important thing."

She seemed to think this over for a few seconds before finally nodding.

"Alright but the shot better work this time cause I ain't doin it again!" She stated stubbornly.

Mal and River exchanged a smile. "She is your daughter ai-ren." River giggled.

River stood up with Annabelle in her arms as Mal did the same with Haven. The family moved together and stood in a tight group hug.

River felt tears fill her eyes when she read the sadness and fear coming from her husband. She hated that her messed up past was coming back to hurt him once again.

Mal wasn't a reader like River, but he did know his wife. He could see the guilt and fear in her eyes. He hated that she was blaming herself for the things that were being done to her. Nothing that the Academy had ever done was her fault. It was these thoughts that he tried to fill his head with so that she could read them.

River met his eyes over their daughter's heads and gave him a brilliant smile that always made his heart melt.

_Love you ai-ren. _She mouthed silently.

_Love you too. _He returned.

A/N- Thanks for the people who have left reviews. There haven't been as many reviews for this story as there were for the first two so if it isn't flying please let me know.

Hope everyone had a fantastic New Year! Happy 2008!!


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Mal closed the door to the twin's room and leaned against the wall with a long sigh. Putting them to bed had been a challenge. Because of the virus they had slept throughout the day and because of that they hadn't wanted to sleep once bedtime had rolled around.

Since River had been exhausted and was sick as well Mal had offered to put both girls to bed on his own. Now three hours since he'd begun the bedtime process both girls were finally asleep.

After making his usual night check of Serenity Mal wearily walked to his bunk. River was already asleep when he arrived, but she wasn't sleeping peacefully. She was tossing and turning and mumbling under her breath. He couldn't make out most of what she was saying but he could definitely make out the words 'blue hands'.

"Hey bao-bei wake up yer havin a nightmare." Mal said softly. He knelt down on the bed and gently ran a hand across her cheek.

He pulled his hand back with alarm and then quickly felt her forehead. She was burning up, much hotter than either of the twins had been before bed. He jumped up from the bed and hurried to Simon and Kaylee's room. Finding the room empty Mal rushed to the infirmary where he found Simon looking into a microscope.

"Doc I think ya need ta come check on River." Mal said urgently.

When Simon turned around to face him, Mal could see instantly that he was as bad off as his sister was. His face was pale, beads of sweat dotted his forehead, and his eyes were blood shot.

Simon stood up quickly and immediately slumped back onto the stool. He took some deep breaths and tried to stop the infirmary from spinning crazily.

"Whoa Simon take it slow." Mal instructed and grabbed the doctor's arm when it looked like he was going to fall off of the stool.

"I'm alright, just give me a second." Simon gasped. He took a few more deep breaths and then stood and moved to the sink and splashed his face with cold water.

"What's going on with you and River? Zoe and the girls ain't nearly this bad off." Mal asked.

"They only have half of the infected DNA that River and I do. The virus will move slower in them than in River or I." The doctor explained.

"Any luck with yer medical test thingies?" Mal asked hopefully and gestured towards slides and equipment.

"No nothing yet. I'm going to start going through the data stick information as soon as I'm done here." Simon answered.

"Mayhaps you should get some sleep first Doc. Ya look like yer bout dead on yer feet." Mal commented.

Simon began to reply but was interrupted by a fit of coughing that wracked his entire body.

"I can't. I have to figure out the base for the antivirus before we get the DNA." He gasped, trying to catch his breath.

"Well ain't pushin yerself too hard gonna make ya sicker?" Mal asked.

"Probably. But it has to be done." Simon coughed out.

Mal wanted to argue and order Simon to get some rest. But he realized Simon was right, there was no one else in the Verse who could do the research for the cure.

"I should come down and check on River, before I get started on the data stick." Simon said changing the subject.

Mal didn't argue and followed Simon out of the room. River had calmed down some by the time they entered the bunk, but she was still talking quietly in her sleep.

River opened her eyes when Simon sat down next to her and took her temperature.

"Simon?" She asked in confusion.

"I just came in to check on you. You need to take some more medicine mei-mei." Simon ordered and held out two pills for her to swallow along with a glass of water that had been beside her bed.

River obediently swallowed the pills and then gave Mal a smile.

"I'm alright ai-ren stop worrying." She assured him.

"That ain't like to happen anytime soon, but thanks for tryin ta make me feel better."

Simon stood up and walked to the door of the bunk. "I'm going to go get back to work. Come get me if you need anything."

"Simon I'll go through the data stick. That way you can focus your energies on making the antivirus." River offered.

"Are you sure you're feeling up to it mei-mei?" Simon asked doubtfully.

"Not really, but you aren't feeling any better than I am. Plus I read much faster than you."

Simon gave her a slight scowl but then smiled and nodded. "Alright you work on looking through the files and I'll keep working in the infirmary."

Mal left River and Simon alone to work and began to wander through the ship, suddenly feeling like sleep was the furthest thing from his mind. He found himself in the engine room an hour later. Like Kaylee he found the constant hum of the engine to be a soothing sound.

Because of the sound of the engine it took a few minutes before Mal noticed the sounds of crying coming from the other side of the room. He walked further into the room and found Kaylee sitting on the ground behind the engine with her knees pulled up to her chest. She had her head leaned onto her arms and was crying heavily.

"Hey now mei-mei don't do that." Mal said and sat down next to Kaylee.

She fell against him when he put his arm around her and continued to cry.

"Kaylee girl it's gonna be fine. They'll be fine." Mal comforted.

"You don't kn-know that fer sure." She sobbed. "I can't lose em both. I just can't. Not after losin the baby last year. I just can't lose Simon and this baby too."

"We ain't losin anybody. We're gonna figure somethin out I promise." Mal said. He tried to sound confident, but was afraid she'd hear the fear in his voice.

Kaylee nodded slightly but continued to cry against his shoulder. Mal couldn't think of anything else he could say to make her feel better. He knew just as well as she did how dire their situation was and he like her was in danger of losing his family. There weren't enough words in the Verse to make that kind of fear better.

"I just feel so helpless. I can't do nothin to help em." Kaylee whimpered.

"Hey you're in here makin sure Serenity is gettin us to Osiris as fast as possible. That's bout all that can be done right now."

Kaylee nodded again and sighed deeply. She stayed leaning against Mal like that for another ten minutes as her tears gradually tapered off. Finally when Mal noticed that she was beginning to doze off he roused her and pulled her to her feet.

"Go get yer husband and makin him go to bed. He's gonna work himself ta death fore that virus even has a chance a killin him." Mal instructed and gave Kaylee a slight push towards the infirmary.

Simon was still bent over the microscope when Kaylee entered the infirmary.

"Simon you bout ready ta come to bed?" She asked quietly so that she wouldn't startle him.

"I should really stay up and work on this Kaylee." Simon answered.

"Simon yer sick ya gotta rest ta keep up yer strength. It ain't gonna help anyone if you kill yerself workin too hard." She argued and pulled him up from his stool and towards the door.

"Yes but I really should keep trying to find the base for the antivirus." Simon protested.

"And yer work'll still be here in the morning. But it's late and you need ta sleep." She ordered and continued to pull him towards their bunk.

After forcing Simon out of his clothes and into bed, Kaylee began running a cold cloth over his face and neck, hoping to bring his fever down a little.

"You were right bao-bei, this is exactly what I needed." Simon mumbled.

"We'll be in wave range by morning. Are ya gonna wave yer father right away?" She asked.

"Yes, I think the sooner I talk to him the better." He replied.

Kaylee couldn't imagine how hard that conversation was going to be. Either Simon was going to find out that the only other parent he'd ever had had also betrayed him the way Reagan had. Or he was going to have to tell his father the truth about a great many difficult things. "What are ya gonna say to him?" She whispered.

Simon was silent for so long that Kaylee thought perhaps he had fallen asleep.

"I'm going to tell him the truth. All of it." He answered finally.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Poke, poke.

"Daddy?"

Mal groaned and moved away from the finger poking him in the chest.

Poke, poke, poke.

"Daddy? You awake daddy?"

Mal squinted one eye open and found himself staring into Annabelle's face only an inch from his own.

"What's the matter Anna?" He whispered trying to avoid waking River.

"I don't feel good Daddy and I had a bad dream. Can I sleep with you and mommy?" She asked tearfully.

"Course ya can baby doll." He replied and moved over so that she could climb into bed between him and River.

Mal finally gave up trying to go back to sleep an hour later when Annabelle once again kicked him in the kidney. He moved quietly out of the bunk and stopped for a minute to check in on Haven. After assuring himself that she was still sleeping safely in her bed he made his way to the galley and began making coffee.

Once he had a large cup of coffee in his hand he moved up to the bridge to make sure they were still on course. Not only were they still on course but he could see Osiris growing larger out the window. Seeing Osiris reminded him of what they were there to do. They had no idea whether or not Gabriel worked for the Fed, but if he did it could be a matter of hours before all of them were in custody and headed back to the Academy.

He shuddered at the thought of being taken back to that place. Just thinking about it made him break into a cold sweat and imagining his little girls in that place brought him nearly to a panic.

Mal hated feeling so helpless. He was the Captain that meant he was the one who was supposed to solve problems like these. Yet this was a problem that he absolutely no control over and no way to help.

"Hey Captain can I come in?" Simon asked quietly from behind him.

"Course ya can." Mal replied and turned around to face the doctor.

He had to suppress the urge to gasp when he saw Simon. Mal had thought he'd looked bad the day before but he looked even worse now. He was not just pale but stark white and his hands were shaking badly.

"Wuh de ma! Simon you look like go-se!" Mal exclaimed.

Simon walked wearily to the co-pilots chair and collapsed into it.

"Thanks Mal that makes me feel great." Simon muttered.

"Sorry but ya really do look bad. Ain't there anything you can do?" Mal asked.

"Not really. The medicine isn't working to bring down the fever anymore." Simon explained.

"So we're within waving distance. You want I should leave so you can wave yer dad?" Mal asked.

"Probably. Is River awake yet?"

"Not sure, she'll probably be up anytime if she ain't awake yet." Mal replied.

"I'm awake ai-ren." River said from behind the two men.

Mal and Simon turned in unison to face River. She was leaning against the door frame and looking every bit as sick as her brother.

Mal hurried over and put River's arm around his shoulder so that he could help her to the other chair. She leaned heavily on him and seemed exhausted from the short walk across the bridge.

Mal kissed River and then exited the room so that River and Simon could contact their father in private.

"You ready for this mei-mei?" Simon asked.

"I am Simon." She assured him and dialed up the wave number that had once been so familiar to them both.

"Tam Residence." A woman with graying hair said as she answered the wave. Simon didn't recognize her, but assumed she was the housekeeper.

"I need to speak with Dr. Tam." Simon explained.

"I'm afraid Dr. Tam is very busy today and has asked not to be disturbed. I could take your name and inform him that you need to speak with him." The maid replied.

"This is urgent and can't wait. Tell him it's his son and daughter for him." River spoke up.

"His son and daughter? But they are no longer living. If this is some kind of joke it isn't funny." The maid said sharply.

"Ma'am I assure you this isn't a joke. It's a matter of life and death. Please just get our father." Simon begged.

The maid continued to stare at him uncertainly, but must have seen the desperation in his eyes because finally she nodded and put the screen on hold.

Simon and River waited nearly five minutes in tense silence but finally the screen flipped back on and Gabriel was looking into it.

"S-Simon? River? Wuh de ma! Where have you been? I- I- I- thought you were dead." Gabriel stuttered.

It took moment before Simon could answer. He was simply too stunned by seeing his father after so long. His father had aged drastically in the years since Simon had seen him last. His hair had grayed and his face was marked with worry lines. Obviously the years had not been easy on the man.

"Father its good to see you again." Simon replied politely.

"Where have you two been? I thought you were dead." Gabriel repeated, obviously still in shock.

"We've been living on a transport ship. I promise I'll tell you more but first I need you to do something for us." Simon requested.

"Alright. What is it you need me to do?" Gabriel asked.

"I need you to tell me that you don't work for the Alliance." Simon instructed.

Gabriel looked at his son in confusion. "Alright, um I don't work for the Alliance." He stated uncertainly.

Simon closed his eyes and opened his mind to read his father. He could feel a few seconds later when River's mind joined his own and together they searched for any sign that their father was lying. Finally River smiled and put her hand on Simon's forearm. Simon opened his eyes and looked at his sister. He nodded and returned her smile.

"It's very good to see you again daddy. I've missed you very much." River said warmly.

"I've missed you too bao-bei. Both of you so much." Gabriel said, his voice thick with emotion.

"Father I promise I'll explain everything, but we need your help." Simon explained.

"Of course Simon, anything. Anything you need." His father answered sincerely.

Seven hours later the crew of Serenity had loaded onto the large Mule they had bought the year before. After making sure that the ship was securely locked and safe at the docks everyone set off for the Tam residence.

Kaylee, Mal, Jayne, and Zoe all shared a look and then stared at Simon and River when they pulled up to the house.

"This is where ya'll grew up?" Jayne asked.

River and Simon both nodded.

"Damn. I knew ya'll came from money but I didn't know you was this rich!" He exclaimed and gestured towards the estate and grounds.

"Trust me Jayne. It's just a house. As big as it is, it was never a home. Plus you know we're rich now right?" River pointed out.

"Yeah we are rich. Cap'n how come we all don't got a house like this? We could be livin like the king a Londinium steada on that creaky boat." Jayne complained.

Kaylee gave Jayne a smack to the back of his head. "Don't be talkin bout Serenity like that." She warned.

"Sorry Kaylee." Jayne replied knowing that insulting Serenity in front of the mechanic was never a good idea.

The twins had fallen asleep during the ride, without waking them Mal and Jayne carried them to the front door.

Kaylee rang the bell and the entire crew waited nervously for someone to answer. The same woman who had answered the wave opened the door a few seconds later.

"Simon and River?" She asked as she scanned the large group.

"Yes that's us." Simon replied and gestured towards himself and his sister.

"Come in. Your father asked that you wait in the living room while he finished up some work." She explained as she let them into the front room of the house. "Is there anything I can get you?" She asked after the group had sat down.

"No I think we're fine." Simon replied, anxious to get the strange woman out of the room.

She nodded politely and finally left them alone to wait for Gabriel.

Despite how horrible she was feeling River had to smile at the way the crew looked around the room in awe. Even though she hadn't lived in this type of luxury for quite some time, it still wasn't enough to impress her.

Everyone looked up expectantly when Gabriel entered the room a few minutes later. He stopped suddenly and simply stared at his two children sitting in front of him, the two children he had long given up for dead.

"Simon. River. I can't believe you're really here." He finally managed to say.

"Hi daddy." River said quietly and stood to give him a hug.

He returned the embrace and looked as if he never wanted to let go. He pulled away after only a few seconds however and looked at River in concern.

"River you have a fever. Are you feeling ill?" He asked as he felt her forehead and then took her pulse.

Mal had seen Simon slip into doctor mode just as suddenly, but seeing the man who'd raised Simon suddenly do it was startling.

River waited patiently while her father fussed over her for a few more seconds before interrupting him.

"I'm alright daddy, but Simon and I need to speak with you immediately." She explained.

"Yes I think we have much we need to discuss." Gabriel agreed.

Gabriel walked to the wall and pushed a comm button.

"Maria." He said and only a few seconds later the house keeper returned to the room.

"My children and I will be in my study for sometime speaking. Please see that their… friends have everything they need." Gabriel instructed.

The woman nodded as Simon and River followed Gabriel out of the room. Once in the study Simon sank into a chair and attempted to catch his breath. Simply walking to the house had nearly exhausted Simon and he could see that River wasn't doing much better than he was.

"Are you two alright? Neither of you look well. Why don't we go to my office so that I can run some tests, we can speak after that." Gabriel suggested.

"There's no need for that father. I know what's wrong with us. And I promise I'll explain." Simon answered.

Gabriel nodded but looked like he wanted to argue further. Simon allowed himself to read his father a little, even though normally he tried to respect the privacy of those around him. But he hadn't seen his father in so long and the temptation to find out what the man was thinking was just too great.

Simon was surprised when the first emotion he read from Gabriel was fear. Fear that he would say or do the wrong thing and lose his children again. Simon had expected a great many things from the meeting with his father, but finding the elder Tam regretful of everything that had happened was something Simon hadn't even considered.

Gabriel cleared his throat and looked uncomfortably from Simon to River and back to Simon.

"Before we say anything else I should tell you two about your mother. She and I divorced shortly after you both disappeared. The stress of losing you and the amount of time she began spending at the clinic was just too much and I finalized the divorce about six months after River disappeared from the Academy. We hadn't spoken in over a year, but I was informed three years ago that she was killed in a shuttle crash. I'm sorry to have to tell you so bluntly but she was your mother and you should be aware of what happened to her."

Simon had to force himself to take a deep breath and remain calm when Gabriel began talking about Reagan. Soon he was going to have to explain exactly how the late Reagan Tam had been killed and telling his father that he was the one to take her life wasn't something Simon looked forward to.

River reached over and squeezed Simon's hand encouragingly. He gave her a brief smile and then turned back to their father.

"Thank you for telling us. But now I think you should just listen. It's a very very long story." Simon told his father seriously.

Gabriel nodded and sat back in his chair and prepared to listen to whatever his son had to tell him.

It took nearly three hours for Simon to explain everything. He left nothing out; taking River from the Academy, the damage done to her brain and the abilities she was given, living on Serenity, Miranda, and the family members they had lost. He also told Gabriel everything that had happened when Reagan had tracked them down. He explained how Inara had betrayed them and what had been done to them when they'd been taken back to the Academy. Finally he explained how Reagan had really died; that it hadn't been a shuttle crash, but that Simon himself had been the one to kill her to save the life of River's husband.

When Simon was finished he sank back into his chair feeling exhausted and waited for his father's reaction. Gabriel had barely spoken the entire time Simon had talked. He'd asked an occasional question, but other than that he had remained silent and absorbed everything that Simon explained.

River and Simon sat in silence and allowed their father all the time he needed to process what he had been told. Simon was afraid that Gabriel wouldn't believe him. That it would be like when he had told his parents about River being hurt at the Academy and they had dismissed him without a second thought.

Finally Gabriel took a long breath and sat forward in his chair.

"I had no idea. You have to know that. I had no idea what Reagan was doing. If I had known I would have protected you both I swear. I thought River was happy at the Academy and I- I- didn't know." He trailed off and looked at them in desperation.

Simon wanted to be angry at his father. He wanted to say all the things he had thought about saying for nearly five years. To blame him for all that had happened since they'd been forced to leave their home and take refuge in the Black. But Simon realized he wasn't angry at Gabriel any longer. He'd found a good life on Serenity and it was hard to be angry about something that made him happy.

Having the ability to read Gabriel made it hard to remain angry at him as well. River and Simon could both feel how sorry he was, how much he regretted the way he'd acted, and how desperately he wished he could go back and change things.

River stood and knelt down beside her father's chair and took one of his hands into her own.

"We don't blame you, not anymore. Simon and I have both found a wonderful family and before the virus we were very happy. Now we're just hoping you can help us find the key to the antivirus." She whispered to her father.

"Of course whatever we need to do to get you both better, we'll do it." Gabriel replied. "We can go to my lab right now and I can run some tests."

"Father I've already done tests. The virus is encoded in our DNA. To create an antivirus we need samples of the original DNA." Simon explained.

"The original DNA?" Gabriel asked.

"From our biological parents. Reagan told me at the Academy that you two weren't our biological parents. We have to find them if we're going to find the antivirus." Simon answered.

Gabriel looked at Simon in shock and seemed to grow smaller in his chair.

"I wasn't aware that you knew. But you don't have all the information correct. She wasn't your real mother, but I am your real father. I did blood tests on both of you just after you were each born, just to make sure the lab hadn't made a mistake. I can assure you, both of you are my flesh and blood." Gabriel revealed.

Simon looked up hopefully. If Gabriel was indeed their biological father then they were much closer to finding a cure for the virus.

"You're our biological father? How is that possible?" Simon asked.

"You're mother, I mean Reagan, was infertile. We used an egg donor and surrogate mother to have both of you." Gabriel explained.

"How is that possible? I was nine years old when River was born and I remember Reagan being pregnant." Simon argued.

"We didn't want you to be confused about where you had come from, so we lied. I know it was wrong, but we simply told you that Reagan was having a baby and you believed it. Do you remember going to stay with my parents on Ariel for three months?" Gabriel asked.

Simon nodded, his mind putting the pieces together.

"We sent you to stay with them and brought you home after River was born. You were so excited about having a baby sister that you never asked any questions about where she had come from." Gabriel continued.

"I'm sorry I lied to you. It was what Reagan wanted and I wanted to make her happy. I had no idea she'd been lying to me the entire time." Gabriel said regretfully.

"Do you know who our biological mother is?" Simon asked hopefully.

"No. I was told that the surrogate was a student at the university, she requested that she never meet Reagan or I. My guess is that that story was a lie Reagan and the Alliance told me. If that's the case it means…"

"It means finding her is going to be difficult." River finished for him.

"Yes. I'm afraid it will be." Gabriel said sadly.

"Well one thing our crew is very good at is difficult things." River explained and Simon nodded in agreement.

The reunited family sat in silence, each of them lost in their own thoughts.

Gabriel found that he couldn't stop staring at his children. They'd both grown up so much since he'd seen them last. Although both of them were obviously ill, he still couldn't believe how wonderful they looked, they each had a confidence and self assurance about them that he'd never seen when they'd lived at home. Despite all that had happened to them they'd obviously come out on top and found happiness.

"Both of you look exhausted. You need to rest." Gabriel said suddenly. It had been a long time since he'd had to act like a father, but was finding that being a parent was something one never forgot.

"I hope you will agree to stay here." He added.

"What about everyone else? We won't stay here if our family isn't here." River asked uncertainly.

Gabriel couldn't help but feel a little jealous at the easy way River and Simon both referred to the people with them as family. He was glad his children had found people who cared about them, but it did hurt a little to know that they had a whole new life that included him in no way.

"Of course they can stay. It will be nice having the house full of people for once. It's much too big for just me." He replied, willing to do anything to keep Simon and River in his life.

"Besides I have to have time to get to know your spouses and my granddaughters. I can't believe both of you are married and have children. Even when I imagined both of you still being alive somewhere it never occurred to me that you'd be getting married and becoming parents." Gabriel mused more to himself than to his children.

Gabriel stood and held a hand out to help River up from her chair. She accepted gladly and climbed wearily to her feet.

"I'll make all of this up to you bao-bei. I swear. Every single one of them is going to pay for what they did to you and your brother and your family." He promised as he led them from the room.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A/N- Sorry for the long delay, writer's block has been killing me! Plus I spilled a beer on my laptop :( Luckily its working again:)


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Once they emerged from the study River and Simon found the rest of the crew in the dining room eating lunch.

Mal looked at River anxiously, clearly worried that things had not gone smoothly with her father. Although she had assured him that her father wasn't working for the Alliance, Mal wasn't anywhere near convinced that the man could be trusted. After all he was the man who'd left River in the Academy and disowned his son for helping her.

"Momma! Daddy told us this use ta be yer old house!" Haven declared happily.

River smiled at her two girls and nodded. "Yes Vee this was my house when I was a little girl."

Mal stood up and walked to his wife, putting an arm around her waist, not just for comfort but because she looked about ready to drop at any second.

_Everything shiny bao-bei?_He thought, knowing she'd pick up what he was thinking.

She gave him a small smile and a wink which he figured meant yes.

Gabriel was still standing in the doorway of the room looking nervously at the crowd of people who had become so important to his son and daughter. River smiled up at the tall man with his arm around her. Gabriel assumed this was the Malcolm Reynolds he'd already heard so much about. He gave the man a once over trying to get a feel for the man who'd married his daughter. He was quite a bit older than River and was staring at Gabriel with a look of cold calculation. But the look of love he'd given River was enough to convince Gabriel that he was a good man.

"Ai-ren this is my father, Gabriel Tam." River introduced nervously.

"Captain Reynolds. I don't know how to thank you for everything you've done for my children." Gabriel said warmly and held a hand out to Mal.

Mal returned the hand shake while continuing to size up his new father in law.

"Didn't do that much for em. 'Sides I do just bout anything for my girl here." Mal replied and pulled River a bit closer.

"Well that's comforting to hear." Gabriel answered.

"Father this is my wife Kaylee." Simon introduced, breaking the tense silence that had fallen between Mal and Gabriel.

Kaylee stood from her chair and gave Gabriel a bright classic Kaylee smile.

"It's nice ta finally meet ya Dr. Tam." She said brightly.

"It's wonderful to meet you as well Kaylee and please call me Gabriel or dad if you want to. Simon tells me you're a genius with engines. In the last few years I've begun collecting some classic ground vehicles, maybe later you'd like to take a look at them." Gabriel suggested warmly.

"That sounds shiny." Kaylee agreed.

Gabriel gave Simon's wife another warm smile and then turned to look at the two remaining adults at the table.

"This is Zoe Washburne and Jayne Cobb." Simon introduced.

Zoe and Jayne stood up from their chairs and shook hands with Gabriel.

"It's nice to meet the both of you." Gabriel said warmly.

Neither Jayne nor Zoe replied but did nod at the man. Gabriel realized he had a long way to go to show these people that he wasn't the hun-dan he had been when he'd failed Simon and River.

Gabriel felt a tug at his pant leg and looked down to find one of River's little girls looking up at him. She looked so much like River when she'd been that age, it nearly took his breath away. Her sister came up to stand beside her and he was once again shocked, this time by how identical the little ones were. He had no idea how anyone managed to tell them apart.

"Aunt Kaylee told us yer our grandpa. That true?" The one on the right asked.

Gabriel knelt down on one knee. "That is true. Your mommy is my daughter and your Uncle Simon is my son."

"Are you still a bad man?" The other little girl asked.

"Haven that isn't nice." River admonished.

Gabriel gave River a sad look and turned back to his granddaughters. "No I don't think I'm bad anymore. I did a very terrible thing to your mommy and Uncle Simon, but I'm trying really hard to make up for it."

Haven seemed to mull this over for a second before replying. "That's good. Sometimes when I'm mean to Anna I just be real nice to her after and then she isn't mad at me anymore."

Anna leaned over and pulled Gabriel down so that she could whisper into his ear. "Don't worry mommy and Uncle Simon aren't mad at you anymore."

Gabriel looked in surprise at the little girls. Not only did they look so much like River it was scary, but they'd obviously inherited her intelligence.

"Well thank you that makes me feel much better. You know the playroom that your mommy used when she was little is still upstairs. I was thinking maybe you girls would like to use it as your bedroom while you're staying here."

"A playroom? Does it got a lotta toys in it?" Anna asked excitedly.

"It does have a lot of toys in it. Would you like to go up and see it?" Gabriel asked.

Both girls nodded excitedly and then turned to Mal and River. "Can we go see the playroom? Please?" Haven asked.

"Of course we can go see the playroom." River assured them.

She began to leave the room with her father and the twins when Mal stopped her.

"You look bout ready to fall over, love. You go sit down and eat somethin. I'll go up and see the room with the girls." Mal ordered gently.

"You sure ai-ren?" She asked skeptically, not sure if leaving her husband and father alone was a wise idea.

"I'm sure. You and yer brother go get some rest." He assured her and followed her father out of the room.

Mal studied the large house as they walked upstairs to the playroom. It was huge and opulent, more so than any house he'd ever been in before. He was once again impressed with River and Simon at how well they had adjusted to living in the Black. It must have been quite a shock to go from this kind of life style to the ship they now called home.

The playroom was located on the second floor, the door still displaying a small wooden sign which read _River's Room_, in bright colorful letters.

Gabriel opened the door and smiled widely at the delighted squeals from the little girls. He had designed the room for River right after she'd been born and had gone a little overboard in spoiling his only daughter. The room was painted a girly shade of purple and was decorated in princess styled décor. There was a large canopy bed with frilly white lace covering it and toys lined all four walls. There was also a large holovid screen on the wall opposite the bed.

Mal couldn't help but stare wide eyed around the room his girls would be staying in. Since winning the lottery years before the crew had done much to fix up Serenity and they now lived a very comfortable life, but nothing like the Tam residence.

"This was River's room?" He asked.

"It was when she was a little girl. When she got too old for dolls and such we decorated another room for her further down the hall. We never did get around to getting rid of everything in here. And then when River and Simon were both gone… well I guess then I just wanted to hold onto to it." He explained.

"Daddy is it ok for me and Vee ta stay in here?" Anna asked hopefully.

"Well unless yer Uncle Jayne wants to stay in here. You know how much he likes it when ya'll make him play dress up and dollies. He might want ta stay in here with all the toys." Mal teased brightly. It made him happy to see the girls take so much delight in the room, especially now that they were sick.

"You girls think you can behave yerselves up here if we go down at have a grown up talk?" Mal asked.

"Daddy we aren't babies!" Anna complained petulantly with her hands on her hips.

Gabriel nearly burst out laughing, she looked and sounded so much like River at that moment.

"I know ya ain't babies, but I'm still yer dad and I'm still gonna worry over ya. You come down and get us if ya need something or if ya start feelin sick." Mal instructed and gave each girl a hug and kiss.

Gabriel's smile faltered when Mal talked about the girls feeling sick. He'd known that River's children were also infected with the virus, but seeing them now made it real. He didn't think he'd ever been so angry in his life. To think that the Alliance would purposefully infect innocent children with a deadly virus was monstrous. But if everything River and Simon had told him about Miranda and the Academy it wasn't all together shocking.

The two men headed back down stairs in an uncomfortable silence. Mal couldn't stop thinking about how he was failing his family. He was supposed to take care of them and now all his girls were sick and he was helpless to stop it.

"I know I ain't known you long but from the way my daughter looks at you I know you must be a good man." Gabriel said suddenly from beside him.

Mal jerked in surprise and looked at the older man.

"Thank you, but if I was doin that great a job my girls wouldn't all be sick." Mal protested.

"If this is anyone's fault its mine not yours. I just hope I can do something to make up for all the wrong I've done." Gabriel replied.

"You help Simon find a cure and make em better and I think you'll have made up for it plenty." Mal offered and then walked back into the dining room.

River and Simon both had very little appetite because of the virus and had finished eating by the time Mal and Gabriel returned. They moved into the living room where everyone sat down and stared at Gabriel.

"So what now? We figure out where we're gonna find yer real folks yet?" Jayne asked breaking the uncomfortable silence.

"Actually we've already found one of them. Gabriel is our biological father, which means we only need to find our mother now." Simon replied.

Seeing the confused looks on the crew's faces Gabriel once again explained how Simon and River had been born and how Reagan had lied to him.

Once he was finished Jayne snorted causing Gabriel to raise his eye brow at him.

"Something wrong?" Gabriel asked.

"Nah nothin really it's just… damn that woman really screwed ya over didn't she?" Jayne replied.

"Yes I guess you could say she definitely did." Gabriel agreed.

"Alright so we're still where we were before. What do we do now?" Mal asked bringing the subject back around to the really important subject.

"I don't think there's much we can do today to find our mother, but I do have some ideas. But I'll need to go to my father's lab for awhile." Simon answered.

"What are ya gonna do?" Kaylee asked.

"I just need to run a few more tests." Simon replied not wanting to say anything else until he'd had time to work.

"Alright well Simon and I can go to the lab and the rest of you can stay here and settle in." Gabriel suggested.

"Sounds like a fine plan." Mal agreed eager to get River to lie down and rest for awhile.

"What about the Feds? You think they'll track us down?" Zoe asked.

"With the number a cry babies we sent out plus diverting the Nav. Sat. again I don't think there's any possible way they coulda tracked the ship here." Kaylee explained.

"I'm just worried this'll be the first place they'd look." Zoe pointed out.

"Well River and Simon are still known fugitives and I'm sure the Feds still think they've been disowned by Gabriel so I don't think Osiris is the first place they'd think of lookin for us." Mal stated.

"Plus the docks are huge and we covered up the name Serenity on the outside a the ship. Don't think she'll be real easy to find unless they're really really lookin for her." Kaylee added.

Zoe nodded and looked more at ease. "Alright, but Simon you be careful. Anybody spots ya and we're done for."

"I'll be careful I promise." Simon assured the group.

"Maria will you help everyone find rooms please. My son and I will be back in a few hours." Gabriel asked to the housekeeper.

"I'll make sure they're comfortable Dr. Tam." She replied.

Kaylee walked with the two men to the door and hugged Simon tightly before he left.

"You sure you're up to this ai-ren? You ain't lookin so good." Kaylee asked with concern.

"I'll be fine love. We'll be back soon." He comforted as he pulled her into his arms.

"Just promise me you'll be careful." She urged tearfully.

"I promise." He said sincerely and kissed her deeply before following his father out of the house.

"You're wife is a lovely woman Simon. I'm so happy you found someone so wonderful." Gabriel complimented as they walked to his hover car.

"Kaylee's amazing, I'm very lucky to have her." Simon agreed.

"And that tall woman Zoe? She's carrying your child?" Gabriel asked still confused about many of the things he'd been told earlier.

"Yes. Kaylee can't carry children, Zoe's acting as a surrogate mother for us." Simon explained.

"Is Kaylee alright? Maybe there's something I can do to treat her." Gabriel suggested.

"She's fine now. The day that River and I arrived on Serenity a Federal agent came to take us back. He pulled a gun and Kaylee ended up getting shot. I did everything I could, but there's just too much scar tissue around her womb, carrying a child just won't be possible."

Gabriel was quiet as he absorbed the story. It wasn't just his son and daughter who suffered because of the Alliance and the Academy. And all of their suffering could be laid on his head. The guilt was almost enough to overwhelm him.

"It really is alright you know. No one blames you for what happened, not anymore." Simon comforted.

Gabriel gave Simon a double take and a look of surprise. "How did you know…"

"Reader remember? You're torturing yourself loudly enough I'm sure River can hear it from here." Simon reminded him.

"I guess it's going to take some time for me to get used to the abilities you and your sister have. What you both can do is so amazing. If only it hadn't come at such a high price." Gabriel said thoughtfully.

"Well I won't lie. Being a reader has come in handy many times. If River and I didn't have these abilities we'd probably have been taken by the Feds years ago. But then again if we couldn't do these things then the Feds wouldn't want us. I guess that's really what you'd call a double edged sword huh?" Simon replied with a grin.

"I guess it is at that. You know you've changed Simon. Despite everything that's happening right now I think I've seen you smile more in the last few hours than I did in the last few years that you lived at home." Gabriel commented.

"I have Kaylee to thank for that." Simon answered and then broke into a fit of harsh coughing.

"We'll figure this out Simon. I'm not losing you or your sister again, not when I've just found you." Gabriel promised.

"If you'd like to come with me I'll show you to the guest rooms." Maria said graciously and led the group out of the living room after Simon and Gabriel were gone.

"Maria I think Mal and I will stay in my old bedroom. It's right down the hall from the playroom and we'd like to be close to the girls." River said as they climbed the stairs.

"That should be fine. Mrs. Tam would you and the young Dr. Tam like to stay in his old bedroom? I've kept both the rooms dusted and just changed the linens two days ago."

"Stay in Simon's old room? Oh that'd be so shiny!" She exclaimed happily.

"Mr. Cobb there's a very nice single guest room just down the hall." Maria said and pointed towards a door on the right.

"Oh well me and Zoe would like ta be sharin a room if'n ya got one for the two of us." Jayne replied.

"Of course. I'm sorry I didn't realize the two of you were together. There's a very lovely room down at the end of the hall that should be suitable." Maria said graciously.

She led Zoe, Jayne, and Kaylee to their respective rooms while Mal and River ducked into the playroom to check on the girls.

"Mommy! Don't we look pretty?" Anna shouted excitedly. The girls had found River's old ballet costumes that she'd worn in recitals as a child. They were both wearing pink leotards with tutus and sparkly tiaras.

"Yes my pretty girl you both look beautiful!" River replied lovingly.

"Do you and daddy wanna see us dance?" Haven asked.

"You know Vee we'd love ta see ya dance, but I think yer ma needs to get some rest and I think you both should try and take a nap too. How bout after dinner you can show all of us yer dance, I'm bettin yer aunts and uncles will wanna see you dance too." Mal suggested.

"Alright daddy, but do we gotta take a nap?" Annabelle asked and then yawned widely.

"I think it'd be a good idea." Mal answered.

"Bao-bei you go get in bed and I'll get the girls settled in." Mal suggested when he saw how exhausted River was looking.

"Thank you ai-ren. You girls have a good nap and I can't wait to see you dance tonight." River said and gave each girl a long hug.

It only took Mal a few minutes to get the girls into pajamas and into bed. They'd been delighted when he'd agreed to let them fall asleep to a movie and after putting one onto the holovid screen the girls settled down easily.

He'd only been in the playroom for fifteen minutes, but River was already asleep when Mal entered her old bedroom.

Mal walked around the room curiously and examined the room that belonged to River when she was younger. So many things reflected the personality of his wife. One wall was made of a long book case. He scanned through the books seeing that River had read on almost every subject imaginable. He found books on ancient philosophy, Earth-that-was history, art, physics, and ballet. Moving away from the rows of books Mal looked at her desk and found an old holovid postcard lying on top of a pile of blank paper. Mal turned on the video and smiled when the image of his wife began playing.

_Simon quit filming me!_ River protested on the video. The video had been taken here in her bedroom. Mal could see a suitcase lying open on the bed half full of clothes.

_Come on River you have to say goodbye to everyone before__ you go off to your fancy school._ Mal heard Simon tease in the background.

River gave the video a dazzling smile and winked.

_Bye everyone I'll miss you! Bye daddy, bye mom, bye Simon! I'll see you all at Christmas!_ River said as she waved at the video and then blew a kiss to her brother.

The video turned off and Mal was left standing in silence. He felt the same rage he'd felt after watching the videos of her at the Academy. Seeing River whole and untouched by the Alliance made what they did to her seem so much worse. Even though she was much improved in the time that Mal had known her there was still a haunted look in her eyes, a look that Mal was sure would never disappear.

Putting down the postcard Mal lay on the bed beside River and turned so that he could watch his wife sleep. He carefully brushed a strand of hair off of her face and once again counted himself lucky to have her in his life. She was so beautiful it sometimes seemed impossible that she was real, more like something he'd dreamed up.

A soft knocking on the door woke Mal up. He glanced around in confusion by the unfamiliar surroundings. Once he realized where he was he stretched, stood, and opened the door a crack to find Maria on the other side.

"Sorry to wake you Mr. Reynolds, but dinner is ready. I hope it's alright, but I took the liberty of feeding your little ones, they woke up about an hour ago." Maria whispered.

"That's fine. Sorry if they were any bother." Mal apologized not really comfortable with the idea of a stranger taking care of his girls.

"Oh no trouble at all. They helped me bake cookies for dessert tonight. They are such little angels." Maria complimented.

"Well I thank you for saying so, but trust me once you've seen em hyped up on sugar that whole angel theory goes out the window." Mal joked.

Maria smiled kindly at his joke. "Well dinner will be on the table in ten minutes and Dr. Tam just waved to say that he and the young Dr. Tam will be home soon."

"Thank you Maria. River and I will be down shortly." Mal replied with a smile and then shut the door.

"Hey River my love you feel up to eatin something? Maria's gettin dinner on the table for us." Mal said softly as he gently stroked the side of River's face with his finger tip. He noticed right away how much hotter River's skin felt than it had been that afternoon, he wasn't sure how much higher her fever could possibly get.

River twitched slightly and then squinted her eyes open.

"How long have I been asleep ai-ren?" She whispered in a hoarse voice.

"Bout three hours. Dinner's ready." He repeated.

River groaned and made a face. "Not hungry." She replied and began to cough.

"I know ya probably ain't got much of an appetite, but ya gotta eat somethin to keep up yer strength." Mal argued and pulled River up into a sitting position.

"You wanna stay in bed or you feel up to coming down to the table?" He asked.

River stood up slowly and held onto Mal's shoulder for support. "I can go down stairs."

Mal put an arm around her waist and helped River down stairs. By the time they made it to the dining room everyone else was already sitting at the table including Simon and Gabriel.

Once everyone had begun to eat Simon cleared his throat.

"I have some good news." He announced.

Everyone looked at Simon and waited eagerly for him to continue.

"I think I've found a cure for the virus." He informed them happily.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The crew stared at Simon in silence for nearly half a minute before Kaylee finally let out a squeal of happiness and threw herself into her husband's arms.

"Oh ai-ren I knew you'd do it! I'm so proud a ya!" She squealed, kissing his cheek over and over.

"Well it's not a definite cure, but all the tests we ran tonight looked promising." Simon replied evenly.

"I thought you'd need samples from both parents to cure the virus." River replied looking uncertain.

"That's what I thought as well, but it seems like the virus is responding to an antivirus created with only one source of DNA." Simon explained.

"That's wonderful Simon. Thank you." Zoe said warmly.

Simon shrugged looking modest, "Well I wouldn't have been able to do it without my father's help."

Gabriel shrugged and looked every bit as modest as his son. "You would have done it without my help. I'm just glad I could offer my expertise."

After they had finished eating Simon gathered Zoe, River, and the twins in the study so that he could inject them with the antivirus.

"Are you sure it's safe?" River asked nervously as Simon prepared to give the shot to Annabelle.

"Oh I'm sure it's safe. It will either cure the virus or do nothing." He assured the nervous mother.

River nodded and continued to hold Annabelle's hand while Simon injected her.

"This better work Uncle Simon, I'm getting awful sick a all these shots you keep givin me." Haven pouted as she prepared for her turn.

"I know Vee, I'm sorry. But I think this will be the last shot you need." Simon assured her as he finished the injection.

Once he finished administering the shots to everyone else, he quickly injected himself and then gave his sister a smile.

"I really think this will work mei-mei." He said trying to erase the troubled look from her face.

"I trust you Simon. I just keep feeling like something is still wrong." She replied looking around the room uncertainly.

"Well it's been a very long week. Being sick and having the girls sick as well is bound to put you on edge." He said reasonably.

She nodded and then smiled at her girls.

"You know girls I think we were promised a dance recital tonight. Why don't we go up and get you both changed into your costumes. Uncle Simon can get everyone gathered together." River suggested.

The girls jumped up excitedly and clapped their hands. Both began jabbering at once as they pulled River out of the room and up the stairs.

"You sure you can handle one a those Doc?" Zoe asked with a hand on her belly.

"One definitely two I'm not so sure about. I really don't know how Mal and River manage it sometimes." He replied and moved to sit down on the couch next to her.

"I'm really sorry about all this Zoe. You're doing such a wonderful thing for Kaylee and I, and it made you sick."

"It's alright Simon. I told ya before I don't blame you. Plus I knew goin into this that there could be risks. I didn't really consider government engineered virus to be one of them, but still I knew something could go wrong." Zoe assured him.

"I know, but I still can't help feeling guilty about it."

"Hey you just cured me remember? So everything's shiny." She said firmly. "He's kickin." She informed him a second later.

Simon placed a hand on her belly and broke into a wide smile when he felt his son kicking against his hand.

"We should go to my father's lab tomorrow and run a few tests, just to make sure he's doing alright." Simon commented, unable to keep from being a doctor for long.

Zoe nodded and gave him a bemused grin. "Whatever you say Doc. Now ain't you supposed to be getting everyone together for a dance recital?" She reminded.

Simon climbed wearily to his feet and left to gather the rest of the crew, thinking about how good it would feel to climb into bed and sleep later and how much better it would feel once the virus was out of his system.

Watching the twins dance was exactly the kind of relief everyone in the house needed. The little girls knew some ballet that River had taught them in the cargo bay, but mostly they were happy skipping around the room and twirling so that their tutus flared out. They were met with thunderous applause when they finished and both bowed proudly.

Once the dance recital was through the girls spent the rest of the evening with Gabriel. They'd never had a grandparent before and were delighted to tell him everything about their lives that he had missed so far, he was equally delighted to hear about everything he'd missed.

"How's it feel bein home?" Mal asked River as they cuddled on a couch next to the fireplace.

"Not home, not anymore. But it is nice to visit the past. I hadn't realized how much I'd missed my father until I saw him again." She replied.

"Ain't ya mad at him for leavin ya in that place?" He asked.

River took a few seconds to think before answering. "Not anymore. He knows he made a mistake and he's learned from it and is trying to make up for it. Blaming him won't change the past."

"Guess you got a good point. Anybody ever tell ya yer pretty smart sometimes?" He teased.

"Oh I've heard it on occasion." She answered with a grin which was interrupted by another fit of coughing.

Mal tightened his arms around her and held her until she could take a breath again.

"That stuff Simon made should start workin pretty soon." He assured her.

She nodded and then drew in a ragged breath. "I hope so." She replied uncertainly.

"Girls it's bed time." Mal finally declared an hour later.

"I'll put em to bed." Kaylee volunteered and was met by cheering from the girls.

"Ya'll want Aunt Kaylee ta put ya to bed do ya?" Mal teased.

The girls again cheered loudly and began jumping up and down. Mal thought that they already looked like they were feeling better.

"Thanks Kaylee. Good luck." Mal commented and smiled at the excited little girls.

After circling the room to give goodnight hugs to everyone the twins and Kaylee disappeared upstairs. Mal settled back onto the couch and glanced down to see that River had fallen asleep against his chest. He picked her up carefully and followed Kaylee out of the room, nodding goodnight to everyone so that he wouldn't wake River up.

Three hours later Mal was pacing the floor of River's old bedroom, unable to sleep. He wasn't accustomed to sleeping during the day and the nap he'd taken that afternoon was now keeping him awake.

He was pacing the large room from one end to the other, glancing at River every half minute or so. Despite Simon's hope that he'd found the antivirus Mal couldn't help but continue to worry about River. Her fever hadn't seemed to come down at all since she'd been given the injection.

Mal suddenly felt the need to leave the room, the room felt stifling and his unease was growing by the second. He eased the door open quietly to avoid waking River and then stepped out into the hallway. He'd only walked ten feet or so when River's piercing screams sent him running back into the room.

River was sitting up in bed clutching the sheets in her fists, her eyes darting frantically around the room as she screamed.

"River bao-bei what's wrong?" Mal asked as he shook her shoulders to try and get her attention.

"Please don't hurt me! No! Mal! Mal! Mal!" She screamed out, her eyes wide with terror.

"I'm right here love. River please look at me!" Mal shouted, but wasn't able to even get her to glance in his direction.

Realizing that his shouting was doing no good Mal hurried out of the room and towards Simon's room. Zoe and Jayne had been awakened by River's screaming and were standing in the hall when Mal came out of the bedroom.

"What's wrong?" Jayne asked.

"River's havin an episode. I'm goin ta get Simon." Mal replied as he rushed past the couple.

Mal banged on the door to Simon and Kaylee's room, it was answered almost instantly by Kaylee who looked every bit as panicked as Mal.

"I need Simon to come give River a smoother, she's havin an episode." Mal explained urgently.

"I know I could hear her, so I tried ta wake Simon up, but he ain't wakin up Cap'n." Kaylee explained tearfully.

Mal's attention was torn away from River's continuing screams by Kaylee's words.

"Whatda ya mean he ain't wakin up?" He asked and hurried into the room.

Kaylee hurried behind him and sat down on the side of the bed next to Simon's still form.

"It's the fever I think. He's burnin up and I can't get im to open his eyes." Kaylee sobbed.

"Jayne!" Mal shouted over his shoulder.

Jayne walked into the room a second later and looked around in confusion.

"Go get River's pa and have Zoe go sit with the girl's. River's screamin probly woke em up." Mal ordered.

Jayne nodded once and then pivoted and disappeared from the room. Mal looked from the door back to Simon in turmoil, not sure who he should be with. But River was at least conscious and Kaylee didn't look as if she could handle being left alone with her unconscious husband.

Mal pulled Kaylee up from the bed so that he could examine Simon closer. The doctor was drenched with sweat and shockingly pale except for his cheeks which were flaming red. Mal could feel the heat of the fever burning off of him without even having to touch him.

"What's wrong?" Gabriel asked as he strode into the room.

"It's the fever. Can't get the doc to wake up." Mal explained and then moved to allow the older Dr. Tam room to examine Simon.

Mal knew there wasn't anything else he could do for Simon so he quickly returned to his room. Jayne was sitting on the edge of the bed with River who had now stopped screaming but was still mumbling and thrashing in the bed.

"Thanks Jayne." Mal whispered thankful that River hadn't been alone in the room.

Jayne nodded and moved so that Mal could sit with his wife. "I'm gonna go check on Zoe and the girls."

Mal nodded but barely registered what Jayne was saying, his entire focus was centered on his terrified wife.

"River? Bao-bei can ya hear me?" Mal whispered.

River continued to stare past him, her eyes darting about looking for danger that wasn't there.

Leaving her side for only a moment Mal hurried into the adjoining bathroom and wetted a cloth down with cold water. He hurried back to her side and began to wipe her hot brow with the cool cloth. He'd hoped it would help her settle down, but she continued to toss and turn while muttering under her breath. Putting his ear closer to her mouth Mal struggled to understand what she was saying.

"Please don't leave me out here. It's so cold. Mal please come." She murmured over and over.

Mal felt a cold knot of fury tighten in his stomach. She was talking about the night she'd been raped and left for dead in the snow. He wasn't sure but Mal was almost positive she wasn't having an episode, she was simply delirious with fever and hallucinating.

Not knowing what else he could do for her until Dr. Tam arrived, Mal lay down next to her and spoke softly trying everything he could think of to help calm her.

After what seemed an eternity to Mal, but was only about fifteen minutes Gabriel entered the room carrying his doctor's bag.

"Has she calmed down at all?" He asked with concern when he saw River.

"A bit. She woke up screamin. Now she just keeps talkin and thrashin around. How's Simon?" Mal asked as he climbed off the bed so that Dr. Tam would have room to help River.

"Still unconscious. His fever was up to one-hundred and five. Kaylee helped me move him into the bathtub so that we could get him soaking in a cold bath. Hopefully it will bring the fever down some. We'll need to do the same for River." He replied while taking her temperature and vital signs.

Mal nodded and moved into the bathroom to run the water. When he came back into the bedroom he found Gabriel giving River an injection.

"Just a standard pain medicine with fever reducer. I don't know if it will do anything to bring down the fever but it can't hurt." Gabriel explained.

"Should we get her in the bath now?" Mal asked.

"Yes the sooner we get her cooled off the better." Gabriel replied.

Mal scooped River up into his arms and held her tightly against his chest despite the fact that she was still struggling and mumbling incoherently. Gabriel followed him into the bathroom and checked the water temperature before nodding to Mal to put River in the water.

The second River's body was submersed in the cold water she began to thrash around violently, clawing desperately at Mal to get out of the water. Using his strength Mal managed to pin her wrists and keep her in the water, but he wasn't sure for how long. If she became aware enough to use her training she would have him down in seconds.

The mutterings she been speaking turned into screams as soon as Mal grabbed her wrists. It was a sound that chilled Mal to his core, one long wail of terror and anguish that seemed to go on forever. Finally her voice gave out and she began to whimper again.

"Please don't leave me. Don't leave me in the cold Mal, please. Mal please." She repeated over and over.

"I ain't leavin ya bao-bei. I'm right here with ya. Right here and I ain't leavin. Yer safe, you ain't out in the woods. Yer at yer dad's house remember, with me and the girls. The twins are right next door sleeping." Mal babbled hoping something would calm her down.

"I love you bao-bei and Haven and Annabelle both love you." He whispered into her ear.

Finally something seemed to break through whatever hallucination the fever had caused. She didn't speak or acknowledge him, but she did stop muttering and she relaxed into the water and stopped fighting. Mal slumped against the side of the tub exhausted. Gabriel slumped down next to him.

"So I'm guessin this means the cure didn't work?" Mal asked.

"Apparently not." Gabriel replied truthfully.

"I gotta go check on the twins, if they're this sick too…" Mal said as he jumped to his feet.

"Don't worry I checked on the twins before I came in here. They're fine, I mean they were scared because River was screaming, but their fevers are almost completely gone and Jayne and Zoe nearly had them back to sleep." Gabriel assured the worried father.

"I think right now the best thing you can do is stay with River." Gabriel suggested.

"How long should she stay in there?" Mal asked.

"Give it another fifteen minutes then get her back into bed."

Gabriel stood up and began to leave the room when he turned back to Mal with a confused look on his face.

"The things she was muttering. Do you know what she was talking about?" Gabriel asked.

Mal let out a ragged breath and ran a hand through his hair.

"It happened bout five years ago. Just before River and I got together. We were planet side on Eurydice, it was the winter season there. Me and her went hunting out in the woods and four men attacked us. They shot me and knocked me out, when I woke up River was gone. I found her a couple a hours later…" Mal stopped talking then as he vividly remembered finding River.

Gabriel shuddered at the haunted look of pain that came into the Captain's face and he realized that whatever had happened was worse than he'd imagined. When Mal began speaking again his voice sounded hollow and distant.

"They left her outside, tied to a tree in the snow. They left her there for over an hour naked and beaten in a blizzard. I thought she was dead when I first saw her, but she's a fighter. She'd killed two a the men and I killed the others. But I didn't get there in time, if I had just gotten there sooner maybe they wouldn't have had time to hurt her." Mal's voice was choked off by a sob that escaped unwillingly.

"Did they…?" Gabriel asked not even able to finish the question.

"Rape her? Yes one of the men did. She was still a virgin when it happened."

Gabriel felt like his body had turned to stone, he couldn't even seem to breath, he was so enraged by what had happened to his little girl.

Mal had turned around so that he was facing River and began to talk softly to her again while running a hand through her hair. Suddenly River blinked and her eyes seemed to clear some.

"Mal?" She asked groggily.

"Hey bao-bei I'm right here." He assured her with relief.

"Why am I in the bathtub?" She asked, her teeth chattering from the cold water.

"We had ta get ya cooled down love. Yer fever was really high." He explained.

"The cure? Mal you need to go check on the girls." She said urgently.

"Yer dad already saw to em. He says their fevers just about gone, Jayne and Zoe are with em." Mal assured her.

River relaxed again and gave Mal a tired smile. "So can I get out of here now? I'm freezing."

Pulling himself from the daze he'd been in Gabriel cleared his throat and nodded. "Yes you've been in there long enough. But you have to stay in bed and drink as much water as you can to prevent dehydration." He ordered.

Mal scooped River up from the water and carried her back to the room. Gabriel left to go help put Simon back into his bed while Mal helped River change into dry pajamas.

"Mal will you go check on the girls? Just to make sure they aren't scared." River asked once she was back in bed.

"Course I will. You drink that glass a water I got ya and then get some rest dong ma?" He ordered before leaving the bedroom.

Gabriel stepped back into the room when Mal left and busied himself checking River's vitals.

"How's Simon?" She asked.

"His fever is very high, a little higher than yours. He's still unconscious but he's stable." Gabriel answered vaguely.

River nodded and didn't question him further, both of them knew that the cure hadn't worked and she didn't feel the need to discuss it.

"Mal told you." She stated a moment later.

Gabriel nodded sadly and took River's hand in his own. "I don't know what to say River. I'm so very sorry."

River shrugged her shoulders casually. "It was a long time ago. I've moved past it."

River yawned widely and settled against the pillows further.

"Get some sleep now. I'll go check on Simon and the girls once more." Gabriel assured her, and then noticed she'd already drifted off to sleep.

Mal, Zoe, and Jayne were standing in the hallway waiting for Gabriel when he left River's room.

"The girls are asleep. And they don't have a fever at all, neither does Zoe. You got any idea why?" Mal asked as they moved away from the door.

"Not for sure. I need to do some blood tests before I can make any guesses." Gabriel responded. "I'd suggest we all try and get some sleep, there isn't anything more we can do tonight. Come get me if anything changes."

The group broke up as everyone walked quietly towards their own rooms.

Kaylee heard the closing of several doors and guessed that everyone had returned to their own rooms. Beside her in the bed Simon sighed in his sleep and shifted a little. Kaylee wiped tears off of her cheeks and took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down.

"Kaylee has there been any change?" Gabriel asked as he stuck his head into the room.

"No he's still out." She answered quietly.

"There isn't anything else I can do for him tonight, but come get me if anything changes or if you need me alright." Gabriel instructed.

Kaylee nodded absently and turned back to her husband.

"Hey Simon can ya hear me?" Kaylee asked quietly like she'd done every few minutes since they'd gotten him out of the cold bath.

When she didn't get a response she stifled another sob and brushed a kiss over Simon's burning forehead.

"Please wake up Simon. You gotta get better alright. We're gonna have a baby soon, so you gotta get better. I need you and our baby's gonna need you. So you gotta get better ya hear me. Cause I can't do this by myself." She whispered into his ear.

Simon remained still and didn't respond to her words. Sighing with worry she laid her head on his chest and comforted herself with the steady sound of his heartbeat. She had just managed to fall asleep twenty minutes later when she was suddenly jolted back to consciousness.

She was confused for a few seconds about what exactly had caused her to wake up and then realized what it was that had woken her so violently. The steady pulsing of Simon's heartbeat against her cheek was gone. Simon's heart wasn't beating.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Mal had just managed to doze off when a sharp stinging in his wrist woke him up. He sat up and saw that the pain was being caused by River's finger nails digging into his arm.

"Mal you have to go to Simon. Something's wrong." She whimpered.

Without pausing for an explanation Mal jumped from the bed and rushed down the hall to Simon and Kaylee's room. He burst into the room and found Kaylee kneeling over Simon giving him CPR. She quickly turned her head at the sound of the door opening.

"Cap'n he ain't breathin." She sobbed.

Mal turned and ran from the room and to Dr. Tam's room located at the very end of the hall.

Simon's father opened the door quickly, being a doctor he was used to his sleep being interrupted.

"What is it?" He asked with concern after seeing the look on Mal's face.

"Simon." He answered simply and then ran back to Kaylee with Gabriel right behind him.

Gabriel hurried over to his son and tried to pull Kaylee away so that he could examine him. Kaylee continued to perform CPR and didn't seem aware of the doctor's presence. Mal moved forward and wrapped his arms around Kaylee, pulling her away from her husband. She shrieked and struggled against Mal, fighting desperately to get back to Simon.

"Shhh. Kaylee calm down. The doctor's gonna take care a Simon. You gotta let him work dong ma." Mal whispered into her ear.

Kaylee relaxed against Mal and then turned and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. Mal returned the embrace and rocked her back and forth comfortingly while Dr. Tam worked on Simon.

When Mal saw Gabriel pull a long syringe of adrenaline from his medical bag he forced Kaylee from the room so that she wouldn't see Gabriel inject it into Simon's chest. River had just emerged from her bedroom when Mal and Kaylee entered the hall. Holding onto the wall for support she moved as quickly as she could towards her husband and sister in law. Giving Mal a look of pain and fear she put her arm around Kaylee and led her back down the hall to her room.

Mal reentered the bedroom and cringed when he saw Simon's body go ridged as the adrenaline began to work.

"He alive?" Mal asked.

"His heart is beating again. And he's breathing, for now." Gabriel informed him distractedly without looking up from his son. "We need to get him to my clinic ma shong. River as well."

Mal turned and left the room without another word. After stopping quickly to let River and Kaylee know that they would be leaving, he hurried into Jayne and Zoe's room. He explained the situation and made sure that they would take care of the girls while they were gone.

Within fifteen minutes they had loaded Simon into the back of the hover car and were headed towards Dr. Tam's medical clinic. Kaylee and River sat in the waiting room for an anxious hour while Gabriel treated Simon in one of the exam rooms.

Finally Mal appeared in the doorway with Gabriel just behind him. They walked to chairs across from the women and both sat down wearily.

"Simon is he…" Kaylee asked her voice quavering with fear.

"He's alive, but critical. I can't keep his heart beating on its own, I had to put him on life support." Gabriel explained. "River I need to examine you now." He added and pulled his daughter to her feet.

Mal took Kaylee into his arms and hugged her tightly while she cried. She calmed down after only a few minutes and pulled away from Mal.

"I wanna see Simon." She said and began walking towards the back room.

"Mei-mei I don't know if that's a good idea. He's… well he's hooked up to alotta machines and…" Mal explained uncomfortably.

Kaylee turned and looked at Mal with more strength and determination than he'd ever seen on her face.

"He's my husband Mal. I'm going to be with him." She stated and continued to walk back to the exam room.

Mal didn't try to stop her again and instead headed into the room where Gabriel and River had gone. Gabriel was hooking up an i.v. to River's arm when he entered.

River's eyes were darting around the room anxiously and he could tell that she was close to having an episode.

"Hey bao-bei. Take a deep breath and look at me. S'gonna be fine." Mal said calmly as he moved into River's line of sight.

River did as he said and immediately began to look calmer as she stared into his eyes.

"River honey are you alright?" Gabriel asked with concern when he saw the exchange between the husband and wife.

"She just don't like medical rooms." Mal explained without taking his eyes away from River's.

Gabriel nodded with understanding and quickly finished his doctoring. After he was done they helped River into a wheelchair and moved as a group into Simon's room. River had to stifle a sob when she saw the tubes and machines hooked up to her big brother. Kaylee sat beside Simon's bed holding his hand, she looked up when they entered the room, but didn't say anything.

"You figure anything out Dr. Tam?" Mal asked breaking the uneasy silence in the room.

"They both still have the virus, the antivirus didn't work. At least not on them. I'll have to run some tests tomorrow, but I believe the antivirus we created did work on the twins and Zoe." He explained.

"So what now? We go back to tryin ta find their ma?" Mal asked.

"Simon doesn't have that kind of time." Gabriel whispered.

"How long does he have?" Mal asked dreading the answer.

"A day maybe two." Gabriel answered.

"What about me?" River asked suddenly.

"Five days maybe a week." Gabriel answered honestly, he wanted to lie, but knew lying to River would be pointless.

Mal fell to his knees beside River and pulled her into his arms, burying his face in her long hair. Kaylee meanwhile had remained silent the entire time.

"Ain't there anything we can do?" Mal asked without pulling away from River.

"I- I don't know. The virus is aggressive, there isn't any slowing it down. The only thing that can be done is find the antivirus and we don't have time for that." Gabriel said hoarsely as he wiped tears from his eyes.

"So that's it then? We just let em die? We can't do that!" Mal shouted standing up suddenly.

"I'm sorry I don't know what else to do." Gabriel whispered regretfully.

"I do." Kaylee said suddenly looking up at Mal.

"I know how ta save em." She whispered.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Three heads turned in unison to stare at Kaylee.

"You know how ta save em?" Mal asked with surprise.

"Well if Dr. Tam says we need ta find their ma then we'll find her." Kaylee replied with determination.

"Yeah but Kaylee that could take weeks maybe even months, we don't got that kinda time." Mal explained sadly.

"If we could get that kinda time and we can find her, then could you make em better?" Kaylee asked looking at Gabriel.

"I think so yes, if we had my DNA along with their biological mother's then I think I can create an antivirus that will work on Simon and River." Gabriel answered.

"But we don't got the time to search the whole damn Verse for one woman." Mal pointed out again.

"We put em in cryo." Kaylee whispered her eyes fixed on Simon's face the whole time. "If we get a couple of cryo containers and put em in stasis then that'll give us the time we need to find their ma."

"Would that work Dr. Tam?" Mal asked hopefully.

"Yes I think it would. If we put them in stasis the virus won't be able to spread, it would give us the time to find an antivirus." Gabriel confirmed, his face breaking into a relieved smile.

Mal walked forward and wrapped his arms around Kaylee's shoulders, hugging her from behind and planted a kiss on top of her head.

"Mei-mei you're a genius." He said gratefully.

Gabriel looked over at River who'd been quiet for the duration of the conversation.

"River? What do you think of this idea?" Gabriel asked as he moved to kneel next to her wheelchair.

"I don't want to go to sleep." She whispered more to herself than to her father.

Mal moved so that he was kneeling on the other side of River.

"Love, this might be our only chance ta save ya." Mal whispered.

River nodded and looked at Mal with wide frightened eyes. "I know." She whispered.

Mal pulled her to him and kissed her on the temple. "We'll find yer ma fast as we can I promise ya."

"Dr. Tam you have any idea where we can find a couple cryo chambers?" Mal asked.

"There's a medical supplier here that sells cryo chambers. They generally don't sell them to private practice doctors, but I know the owner, I think he'll help me without asking questions. I'll call him as soon as he opens." Gabriel replied.

Mal nodded, stood up, and moved behind River's wheelchair.

"I'm gonna take River back to the house so she can see the girls before… well before we come back here." Mal explained as he pushed River out of the room.

The couple was nearly silent during the ride back to the Tam residence, River spent the ride staring blankly out the window. By the time they arrived at the house the sun was just rising above the trees that lined the property.

"The girls will be waking up soon." River commented as she stared up at the house.

"Yep and they'll be wantin breakfast." Mal added.

"Make sure they take their vitamins and don't let them watch that cowboy movie anymore it gives Haven nightmares and if they go outside to play make sure they wear a jacket and…"

"Bao-bei." Mal interrupted. "They'll be alright. They're gonna miss you like crazy I ain't gonna lie to ya, but I promise ya I'm gonna take real good care of em."

River turned to Mal and gave him a sad smile. "I know you will ai-ren. I'm sorry I didn't mean for you to think that I don't have confidence in your parental abilities. I've just never left them before."

Mal gave her what he hoped was a comforting smile. "This'll all be behind us soon."

He turned to open the door but stopped when River put a hand on his arm.

"Mal if I di… I mean if I don't make it. Make sure the girls know how much I love them."

"River don't. Don't even think like that. We're gonna find her and then yer dad'll come up with a cure. That's the only way this is gonna go down." Mal interrupted sternly.

"But…" She began.

"No tzao-gao! We ain't havin this conversation! Yer gonna be fine! Ya have ta be. I ain't losin you bao-bei!" Mal shouted and then pulled her into a fierce embrace.

River could feel hot tears wetting her neck as Mal cried against her. It wasn't often that Mal allowed his pain to show on the outside, preferring instead to internalize it even from his wife.

"Shhh. Ai-ren please don't." She whispered into his ear.

Mal held River's face in his hands and looked intently into her eyes. "Promise me ya ain't gonna leave, bao-bei. Even if you can't know it fer sure, just promise me." He pleaded his voice cracking with emotion.

"I won't ai-ren. I promise." She assured him before kissing him deeply.

Once they pulled away from each other River looked once more at the house and sighed, "We'd better get inside and talk to the girls."

Mal hurried around to River's side of the vehicle and helped her onto the side walk, but she looked so pale that he insisted on carrying her into the house.

Mal and River found the girls in the kitchen with Jayne eating breakfast cereal.

"Mommy!" Haven shouted.

"Daddy!" Annabelle shouted simultaneously.

Mal set River gently down in one of the chairs and then opened his arms so that the two little ones could run into them.

"How are my girls feelin this morning?" He asked as they plowed into him.

"All better daddy. Aunt Zoe says are fevers all gone." Haven informed him.

Mal made a show of feeling both their foreheads, "Well seems like ya are all better."

"Mommy you and Uncle Simon are still sick huh?" Haven asked as she hugged her mother.

"Yes baby, but I'll get better soon I promise." River explained as she held her.

Zoe walked into the room then, one hand on her belly and the other on her lower back.

"Hey Zo how are you?" Mal asked.

"Other than fat, I'm fine." She answered and then gave River a concerned glance.

"Dr. Tam just waved. He wants us to all go back to the clinic so he can run some scans on the girls and I. Make sure the virus is really gone." She continued.

"Girls we gotta head down to your grandpa's office so he can make sure you're really all better. How's bout we go up and get ya dressed so we can leave." Mal suggested as he led the girls out of the kitchen.

Just before they were out of hearing range River heard Annabelle ask if her Uncle Simon was alright. River winced and felt sorry for Mal, wondering what he was going to say to the two young girls.

"Is Simon alive?" Zoe asked once she was sure the girls were gone.

River nodded sadly. "Yes, but on life support. My father says he only has a day maybe two left."

Seeing the looks of horror and shock on Zoe and Jayne's faces River quickly explained Kaylee's idea of putting them into cryo until an antivirus could be found. By the time she'd finished answering their questions Mal and the twins had reappeared.

"Mommy, daddy told us that Grampa Gabe is gonna make you go to sleep." Haven whispered to River in the back of the hover vehicle.

River had to smile at the affectionate name the girls had already given to her father, it hadn't taken long before the twins had wrapped their grandfather around their little fingers just like they had everyone else in their family. She wondered just how the girls would react to suddenly having a new baby on board the ship, someone with whom they'd have to share the attention of the adults with.

"Well your Uncle Simon and I are both very sick and its going to take a little while for your grandfather to make us better, so we're going to go to sleep until that can happen." River explained.

"Are you gonna wake up in the mornings?" Annabelle asked.

"No baby girl. I'll stay asleep the whole time until its time for me to get better. It might take some time, so you girls are going to have to be brave and help your daddy out while I'm asleep alright?"

Haven leaned against River's shoulder and began to sniffle, on the other side of River Annabelle did the same.

"I don't want ya to go to sleep momma. I'm gonna miss you. And what if you have bad dreams?" She whimpered.

River felt hot tears sting her eyes and had to swallow past a lump in her throat before she could speak again.

"Well silly I won't have bad dreams because I'll be dreaming about the two of you the whole time. I'll miss you both so much but we'll be together again before you know it, I promise."

Mal's hands tightened on the controls as he listened to his family in the backseat. He'd thought he'd known anger at the Alliance before, but the conversation between his wife and daughters brought that anger to a whole new level. He vowed then that no matter what he would make sure the Alliance paid for the pain they had brought to the people he loved.

Before he had time to really fume and get worked up by his anger they had arrived back at the clinic. Parked next to them was a delivery supply vehicle; a group of men were busy unloading a cryo box from the back.

While Zoe and Jayne walked inside with the girls, Mal picked River up and carried her inside. He noticed how she glanced fearfully over at the cryo box.

"Guess you don't got a very good memory of one a those do ya?" He asked quietly.

"No not really. But perhaps this time I won't be woken up by some angry man kicking the lid off suddenly." She teased.

"Hey now, I was all excited. Thought there mighta been treasure in that box. Didn't know it was gonna be some crazy girl. But you were naked so I guess that made up for there not bein any treasure." He teased back as they entered the clinic.

Half an hour later River and Mal held hands anxiously while Gabriel ran scans of the twin's blood. The smile on his face when he looked up from the scanner made the worried parents let out their breaths' in relief.

"I don't see any sign of the active virus in either of the girls. And even better than that I found antibodies active in both of the girls' blood." Gabriel explained.

"Antibodies? What's that mean?" Mal asked.

"It means that not only are the girls not infected with the virus, but they're immune to it. The Alliance won't be able to infect them again."

"So they're fine? Are you sure?" River asked, not absolutely able to believe that her children had been cured so easily.

"I'll continue to run blood tests every week or so for the next month just to make sure. But yes as of right now there is no sign whatsoever of the active virus in their blood." Gabriel assured her.

Gabriel slipped quietly from the room a moment later, letting the very relieved parents have a few moments alone to deal with the pent up emotions they'd carried since their children had become sick.

He walked back to check on Simon and found Kaylee sitting in the same spot she'd been in since she'd first been allowed to be with her husband.

"Kaylee we should start preparing Simon to go into cryo. The sooner we do it the better." He said gently.

Kaylee jumped slightly when Gabriel pulled her from her vigilant watch. She recovered quickly and nodded without looking away from Simon.

It took Gabriel close to an hour to prepare the cryo box and Simon, during that time the crew each spent a few moments next to his bedside. No one wanted to admit that they were saying goodbye, just in case, but everyone knew that's what they were doing. Finally the only person who hadn't said goodbye to Simon was River. Mal pushed her wheelchair into the room and then left to give the siblings some privacy.

"Well this is a fine mess we're in isn't it." River whispered as she held tightly onto Simon's hand.

"You know we're going to be fine, right? After everything we've done and been through there's no way some stupid virus is going to be the end of either of us. So you just have to remember that alright?" She ordered tearfully.

A soft knock on the door interrupted her tears a few moments later.

"River girl you bout ready?" Mal asked as he stuck his head into the room.

River wiped the tears from her cheeks and nodded. "I love you big brother." She whispered just before Mal wheeled her out of the room.

The crew waited anxiously in the waiting room as Gabriel put Simon into cryo. The doctor had explained that because Simon was on life support and his vitals weren't stable, sedating him would be especially dangerous. Kaylee sat staring blankly ahead of her as they waited for news. Even the twins who usually found it difficult to remain quiet for even a few seconds were silent as they sat with Mal and River.

When Gabriel appeared in the doorway he looked exhausted and worried, it was impossible to read anything from his facial expression. The group looked up at him expectantly as he took a seat with them.

"He's alive, everything went smoothly." Gabriel informed them and took Kaylee's hand into his own.

It seemed as if those were the words Kaylee had been waiting for and suddenly the cold removed attitude she'd had disappeared as she finally broke down into tears. Surprisingly it was Zoe who pulled Kaylee into her arms and comforted her. Gabriel waited until Kaylee calmed down before reminding them that they needed to get River into cryo as well.

River hugged each crew member in turn. Mal helped both of the twins up onto River's lap so that she could hold both of them at the same time.

"You're going to be my big girls right?" River asked.

The twins each nodded solemnly. "We'll take care of daddy for you mommy we promise." Annabelle said sincerely.

"That's my good girls. And help Aunt Kaylee out with the new baby, if he comes before we wake up." River added.

"Ok mommy." The girls said in unison.

"I love you both so much." She whispered and pulled both girls in so that she could kiss each of them before they climbed down.

"Love you too." Haven whispered.

"Night mommy. Sleep tight and don't let the space bugs bite." Annabelle instructed, having heard the same thing from Aunt Kaylee nearly every night of her life.

River gave the twins a final bright smile as Mal wheeled her back into the room where the cryo chamber was waiting.

Gabriel stood outside while Mal helped River undress and climb underneath a paper sheet to cover her up while she was sedated. The couple didn't say goodbye while they were alone, there was an unspoken agreement between them that they wouldn't say goodbye.

"You ready sweet heart?" Gabriel asked as he prepared to inject River with the sedative that would put her to sleep before they put her into the cryo box.

"I'm ready." She replied certainly.

She winced when she felt the burn of the medicine run up her arm from the i.v. Almost instantly she began to feel her eyes grow heavy as the sedative took effect. It warmed her heart to look up and see Mal smiling down at her as she fell asleep.

"Love you bao-bei." He whispered into her ear.

"Love you too ai-ren." She whispered back, keeping her eyes on Mal until finally she couldn't keep them open any longer and let the darkness take her over.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Alright so I know this chapter is pretty angsty, so hopefully the next one won't be such a downer. Also sorry it's so long between updates, I'd like to blame school and work, but I have to admit that Guitar Hero 3 is also playing a large part in the delay.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

"Hey daddy." Haven said quietly.

"Daddy." She said a bit louder when she received no reply from her father.

"Daddy!" She shouted but still got no response.

"Malcolm Reynolds!" She finally shouted at the top of her lungs.

"Huh?" Mal finally replied. "Did you just call me Malcolm Reynolds?" He asked finally coming to a stop.

"That's what mommy always calls ya when she wants you to pay attention to her." Haven explained. "I called you three times afore that and you didn't answer."

"Well you got my attention now little one, whatcha need?" He asked.

"Are you ever gonna come outta here?" Haven asked with her hands on her hips.

Mal glanced around the office where he'd spent the better part of the last two weeks looking through computer and Cortex files that Reagan had left behind, hoping to find some mention of Simon and River's birth mother. Sighing in frustration he stood up from the desk and moved around so that he could pick up Haven.

"I'm sorry baby girl I know you and yer sis gotta be getting pretty bored. You know that we're lookin for somethin to make yer mommy and Uncle Simon better right?" Mal asked.

Haven nodded and wrapped her arms tighter around her father's neck.

"Well I'm hopin maybe there will be some files or somethin in here that'll help us." Mal finished explaining.

"You need ta find my grandma's name huh?" Haven asked.

"Yeah we do. You read that from me?" Mal asked.

"You and everybody else." Haven muttered sounding much older than her three and a half years.

"How bout you ask Uncle Jayne if he'll take ya to the park." Mal suggested.

"Can't. Uncle Jayne is helpin Aunt Kaylee get the new baby stuff out of the car." Haven replied.

"Alright well how's about I take you to the park, I ain't findin anything anyway." Mal said sounding defeated.

Haven patted his arm trying to comfort him. She stopped suddenly and held still, she tilted her head to one side and stared out into space. Mal knew by now the expression Simon and River both got while reading, but had yet to see either of his daughters do it. Without saying a word Haven walked over to a book shelf behind Reagan's old desk. She reached a hand up and began to feel underneath one of the shelves. Turning to Mal with a triumphant smile on her face she held out her hand and proudly presented him with a data stick that had been taped underneath the shelf.

"Will this help daddy?" She asked as she handed over the data stick.

Mal's face broke into a broad smile and he once again scooped Haven up into his arms.

"Don't know yet little bit, but I'm bettin it will. Thank you baby girl." He replied and laid a kiss on her cheek.

"So can we go to the park now?" Haven asked.

More than anything Mal wanted to sit down and study the information on the data stick, but Haven looked so proud and hopeful that he just couldn't say no to her.

"Alright go get your sister and we'll go to the park." Mal said.

Two hours later Mal was sitting on a bench watching the girls as they played on a play set. As much as he hated to admit it he realized there were some advantages of living on planet, especially when it came to the girls.

"Are those your daughters?"

Mal turned to see a woman sitting next to him on the bench.

"Yep those two are mine." Mal confirmed.

"Wow twins, I can barely keep track of my one." She replied with a smile and pointed at the little boy who was currently helping Annabelle chase Haven.

"Yeah they can be a handful at times." He agreed with a laugh.

"Hey Mal!"

Mal turned when he heard his name and saw Jayne jogging towards him. Smiling politely at the mother Mal stood up and walked towards his mercenary.

"Zoe's havin the baby." Jayne panted.

"Girls we gotta go." Mal shouted to the twins who he noticed were already heading towards the two men.

"Daddy we gotta go. The baby's comin." Annabelle informed him.

Mal didn't even bother to get amazed by the fact that his girls once again knew what they shouldn't.

Jayne and Mal each picked up a girl and set them on their shoulders before heading back to the house.

Four hours later the crew was settled back onto Serenity. They couldn't risk taking Zoe to a hospital because of the chance that one of them could be recognized by Alliance personnel. Because his clinic wasn't equipped for surgeries Gabriel hadn't wanted to deliver Zoe there and the infirmary on board was deemed the better choice.

After getting the girls to sleep in their own bedroom Mal hurried to one of the empty shuttles where he could use the Cortex. He quickly uploaded the data stick that Haven had found and began scanning quickly through the files listed. Most of the files made no sense to Mal and after opening a few of them he began to lose hope that there would be any useful information in any of them.

Two hours later Mal had a raging headache from reading through files and left the shuttle to check on Zoe. He entered the infirmary to find Kaylee holding Zoe's hand and coaching her through the labor.

"Hey Zo how ya doin?" He asked as he entered.

"Oh other than bein in labor I'm just fine Sir." She replied sarcastically.

Mal remembered all too well just how scary River had been during labor and knew better than to mess with Zoe. He walked up to the head of the bed and gave his best friend a smile. When another contraction hit a moment later Zoe reached out and grabbed onto his hand.

"Ow Zoe you're breakin my hand. Ow that's my shootin hand Zo!"

"Shut up Sir!" Zoe yelled.

Mal was wise enough to shut his mouth. Once the contraction ended she released his hand and Mal quickly moved a safe distance from her.

"How's she doin Dr. Tam?" Mal asked as he watched Gabriel read the scan he took of Zoe.

"She's doing just fine. It will still be a few hours, but so far everything is going perfectly." Gabriel assured him.

Everyone looked up when Jayne walked into the infirmary.

"How are ya Zo?" Jayne asked the concern for his woman evident on his face.

Mal and Kaylee exchanged a look and left the infirmary to give the couple some privacy. Once they were out of the infirmary Kaylee collapsed onto the couch and took a deep breath.

"How you doin mei-mei? Bout to be a mom you gotta be excited." Mal asked and sat down next to Kaylee.

"I am excited." She agreed. "But scared. Simon should be here with me."

"I know mei-mei, I know. Hey just think of how excited he'll be once he's better and you get ta introduce him to his son." Mal replied hoping to cheer her up.

Kaylee nodded and wiped a tear off of her cheek. "Yeah just always thought when I had a baby the dad would be right there with me ya know. And I thought I'd be the one havin the baby too."

Mal felt a lump rise in his throat when he thought about how much his little mechanic had gone through. It wasn't fair what had happened to her, but then again it wasn't fair what the Alliance had done to any of them. Putting an arm around Kaylee he pulled her over so that her head was leaning against him.

"It ain't fair what's happened Kaylee. But you're gonna have a beautiful baby and we are gonna get Simon and River back. In the end things are gonna be fine, I promise." Mal whispered into her ear.

"Thanks Cap'n. Yer pretty good at makin people feel better ya know that." Kaylee replied sounding more like her usual happy self.

"Yeah it's a good thing too, cause I manage ta piss River off a lot. If I weren't good at fixin it she'd a killed me with her brain a long time ago." Mal joked.

Kaylee laughed and hugged Mal tightly. "Guess I should be gettin back in there." She said after a moment and stood up to go back to the infirmary.

"You comin?" She asked.

"I'll be there in a bit, I got some stuff to work on." He replied and then headed back to the shuttle to continue looking through the files.

Two hours later Mal opened one of the last files on the data stick. It was much smaller than the other files and only contained a series of numbers and some medical information about blood types that he didn't really understand. Nearing the bottom of the file Mal finally saw a sentence that made his heart leap.

**River Tam maternal donor****- Maria Gray. Age 26. BT AB-. Gravida 2 Para 2. Stone Ridge, Bernadette.**

Mal wasn't sure what some of the information meant but he knew that he'd found what he was looking for, the information on River's birth mother. Mal couldn't seem to stop staring at the words on the screen. He had a name and at least an old location, it was more than he'd been hoping for. He read the sentence over and over committing it to memory so that in case something happened to the data stick the information would forever be burned into his mind.

Still feeling in a daze from the shock of having actually found what he was looking for, Mal wandered down to the cargo bay without even realizing where he was going. He moved to a pile of crates that were stacked against one wall. Moving the crates aside Mal found River's cryo chamber where they had hidden it three weeks ago. They had decided to keep Simon and River on board Serenity, in case they needed to make a quick get away from the planet. Mal could only see a little of her face through the small pane of glass on the cryo chamber. With her pale skin and dark hair Mal imagined she looked exactly like Snow White from that fairy tale she was always reading to the girls. He wished more than anything that his kiss could be the thing that would heal her and wake her up.

Brushing his finger tips over the frosty glass Mal smiled down at his sleeping wife.

"I think I found it bao-bei. Think I found yer ma." He whispered to her.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Kaylee winced as Zoe squeezed her hand during a contraction.

"Yer doin great Zoe. Just keep breathin." She encouraged.

Zoe blew out a breath as the contraction ended.

"Alright Zoe you're fully dilated. During the next contraction I want you to start pushing." Gabriel instructed.

Just as the next contraction started Mal burst into the infirmary.

"Kaylee I need ya in the engine room now!" He said urgently.

"Cap'n I'm a little busy right now. Why in the hell do ya need me in the engine room anyway, we're docked." Kaylee snapped.

Instead of answering Mal grabbed her arm and pulled her out into the hallway, where Jayne was nervously pacing.

"Jayne go be with Zoe." Mal ordered.

Seeing the determined look on Mal's face, Jayne didn't argue but simply stepped into the infirmary.

"Cap'n my baby is about ta be born! Let me go!" Kaylee yelled and attempted to pull her arm out of Mal's grasp.

"Kaylee I just need ya ta fire up the engines, won't take more than five or ten minutes." Mal explained.

"But why…"

"I found their ma." Mal interrupted.

Kaylee's face went through a range of emotions from surprise to shock to joy.

"You found her? Really?" She whispered.

"It ain't for sure, but I found a name and the name of a place on Bernadette. We need to get there as quick as possible." He explained.

Kaylee looked from the infirmary to the engine room in turmoil. Finally she nodded and hurried towards the engine room.

"Tell Zoe I'll be right back!" She shouted over her shoulder before disappearing.

"Where's Kaylee?" Zoe panted sounding irritated when Mal walked into the room alone.

"She's gettin then engine goin. We're takin off, think I mighta found River's ma." Mal explained.

Everyone turned to stare at Mal with the same surprised hopeful expressions that Kaylee had had. The moment was broken a second later when Zoe cried out from the pain of another contraction.

Gabriel quickly focused back onto his patient.

"That's very good Zoe just keep pushing."

Mal made the mistake of following the doctor's line of sight down to where the baby had just begun to crown. Remembering all too clearly when River had delivered the twins Mal felt his legs go weak and suddenly he was looking up at the ceiling of the infirmary with Jayne staring down at him.

"Did I pass out?" Mal asked sheepishly.

"Yep. You think ya can get yer ass off the floor or should I just drag ya out inta the hall?" Jayne asked gruffly.

"I'm fine." Mal replied trying to keep some sort of dignity but knowing it was pretty pointless.

Just as he was climbing to his feet Mal felt the familiar rumble of Serenity's engine fire up. Less than a minute later Kaylee ran back into the infirmary, her face bright red.

"I didn't miss it did I?" She asked excitedly.

"Nah, but ya did miss Mal passin out like a pansy." Jayne snickered.

"Ya passed out Cap'n? Just like when River was havin the twins." Kaylee said and began giggling as well.

"As funny as this is I am trying to get a gorram human being out of me!" Zoe suddenly yelled.

"Sorry Zo." The three replied in unison.

Mal left the infirmary and hurried up to the bridge. Moving as quickly as possible he set a course of Bernadette and cleared their take off with the docks. He wasn't as adept at piloting as River was or Wash had been, but he was able to take them out of atmo without them blowing up, which Mal figured was impressive. After making sure that their course was set correctly Mal put Serenity on autopilot and headed back to the infirmary.

As he headed down the stairs he could hear the crying of a newborn baby.

"Cap'n ain't he beautiful!" Kaylee gushed, holding up the tiny boy when Mal walked into the room. The baby was bigger than the twins had been when they were born but looked very much like they had. He had the same fair skin and dark hair and Mal could already tell that he was going to take after Simon.

"He surely is mei-mei, you and the Doc made a handsome kid." Mal agreed.

"Hey Zo how ya doin?" He asked his first mate, who looked utterly exhausted.

"Well ya know how much it hurts ta get shot?" She asked.

Mal nodded wincing a little at the memory of a pain he knew all too well.

"This was worse. A lot worse." She replied with a grimace.

"Well ya did a good job." Mal complimented and then noticed that Zoe had fallen asleep.

"We should let her get some rest." Gabriel instructed as he ushered Mal and Kaylee from the room, Jayne meanwhile pulled a stool up beside Zoe and sat down at her side.

The three adults moved up to the couches in the common room, Kaylee cuddling and talking to the new baby the whole time.

"So how's the newest crew member Dr. Tam?" Mal asked and nodded towards the baby.

"Very healthy, seven pounds eight ounces. He's doing wonderfully." Gabriel assured the Captain looking proudly at his new grandson.

"Mal what did ya find on their ma?" Kaylee asked excitedly, looking up from her new son for the first time in almost ten minutes.

"Haven found a data stick taped up under a shelf in Reagan's old office. One a the files had information on River's mother. Here I'll show ya." Mal said and loaded the data stick up onto the Cortex screen.

"So is that what we were lookin for?" Kaylee asked as Gabriel studied the file.

"It is promising. Blood type AB negative, just like Simon and River. Gravida two Para two, means that this woman has been pregnant and given birth twice. But this file is nearly twenty years old, if this Maria woman is their mother what are the chances that she's still living on Bernadette?" Gabriel pointed out.

"I thought a that too, but at least it's a starting point." Mal replied.

Gabriel nodded in agreement and sat back down on the sofa. "How long until we get to Bernadette?"

"Three days give or take a few hours." Mal replied.

"Alright well I'll check on Zoe and then scan the Cortex for the name Maria Gray, maybe I can find something that will help us." Gabriel said and left for the infirmary.

Kaylee and Mal sat in silence both of them watching the sleeping baby boy and thinking about their absent spouses.

"You really think we'll find her Cap'n?" Kaylee asked quietly.

"Mei-mei if'n I gotta search every planet and moon in the Verse we'll find her. I ain't losin my wife, my daughters ain't losin their ma, you ain't losin yer husband, and my nephew there is gonna meet his pa no matter what." Mal assured her. "So you got a name for the little guy yet?"

Kaylee gave her son a loving look and shook her head. "I don't wanna name him without Simon. I figure I got some time fore I really gotta pick a name, hope by then Simon'll be with me."

"He will be mei-mei, I promise ya that. Now seein as how I kinda took off suddenly I'm bettin ya don't got any a the baby's stuff here huh?" Mal asked.

"Actually most a the supplies are here, but I just bought all the furniture yesterday, its all at Dr. Tam's house."

"Well good thing we still got all a the girl's old baby furniture in one a the holds, how's bout I go get one a their cradles out and set it up in yer bunk?" Mal asked brightly.

"Thanks Cap'n. Guess we should tryin get some sleep huh?" Kaylee suggested and glanced at the clock on the wall in the kitchen, it was nearly three in the morning.

"Yep guess we can still get a few hours sleep fore the little ones get up." Mal agreed and headed down to the cargo bay so he could dig one of the twin's old cradles out from where it was stored.

Kaylee followed Mal into the cargo bay and stepped between the crates where Mal had stood a few hours earlier staring down at his wife. Kaylee walked around River's cryo box to Simon's.

"Hey ai-ren. Our baby boy is here and he's beautiful. He looks just like ya, I can't wait for you to meet him." Kaylee whispered down through the glass of the cryo box.

Mal quietly slipped from the room and left the cradle in Kaylee's bunk before stumbling to his own bunk. After slipping off his clothes he fell face down onto his bed and allowed himself to feel just how tired he really was. He was just dozing off when he recognized the familiar smell of River's shampoo on the pillows. Pulling her pillow close and hugging it to his chest he inhaled her scent as he fell asleep, feeling more hopeful than he had in weeks.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Captain Syler we've found Serenity." The voice over the comm informed him.

Syler jumped from his bed and quickly pulled on his uniform. In less than a minute he was on the bridge looking as alert as he would if he'd been up for hours.

"Tell me everything." He ordered.

"A Firefly class ship was reported leaving the docks on Osiris about ten hours ago, I ran the serial number, it's them." His second in command explained.

"Do we know where they're heading?"

"Looks like they're heading towards Boros or possibly Dyton. We don't know for sure where exactly they're headed yet."

Syler brought up a star chart and looked at the location of Serenity.

"They could be headed to Bernadette as well." Syler commented more to himself than to anyone else.

"Yes Sir." His officer confirmed.

"I want them now! If you can't take the ship then destroy it! They do not make it to Bernadette is that clear?" Syler shouted.

He wasn't a man who allowed himself to feel fear or unease, but he felt them both just then. If they were headed towards Bernadette it meant the readers were still alive, although how that was possible he wasn't sure.

He'd known talking directly to the readers had been risky, but he'd hoped they couldn't read him through a wave. Apparently he'd been wrong about that, if they were headed towards Bernadette it could only be because they knew about the cure.

Syler turned and slammed his fist into the wall, splitting his knuckle and leaving a smear of blood behind. He'd never failed in an assignment before this and damn if he was going to let two freak science experiments and their back world friends make him fail this one. He was going to find River and Simon Tam and personally deliver them to the Academy. And if all he delivered were their cold remains, so much the better.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Amazingly the girls didn't wake Mal first thing in the morning like he'd expected they would. When he finally rolled over and opened his eyes he saw that it was just past ten in the morning. Cursing at how late it was he climbed out of bed and threw on his clothes in haste.

He met Zoe and Jayne in the hallway; Jayne had his arm around Zoe's waist as he helped her walk. Zoe was walking slowly and obviously was in pain.

"Mornin you two. Zo how ya feelin?" He asked pleasantly.

"Dr. Tam said it'd be a good idea if I got up and walked a bit, but I'm thinkin he's just tryin to torture me." She explained and winced as she took another step.

"How come he ain't given ya something for the pain?" Mal asked.

Beside her Jayne grunted in frustration and rolled his eyes at Zoe. "Yeah me and the doctor been tryin ta get her to take somethin all mornin, but she won't."

"Why not?" Mal asked.

"Don't wanna be all doped up if'n somethin happens." Zoe explained through gritted teeth.

"Zoe don't be ridiculous. You're obviously hurting and you ain't gonna be any use in a fight right now anyway. Ya just had a baby fer Buddha's sake, go take some pain medicine and get some rest, that's an order." Mal instructed firmly.

Zoe looked like she was going to argue but seemed to reconsider and nodded before heading slowly towards the infirmary.

Jayne passed directly under a light when he walked by Mal in the hall and Mal suddenly noticed that his merc's cheek was swollen and red, on it's way to becoming a nasty looking bruise.

"Hey what happened to yer face Jayne?" He asked curiously.

Jayne blushed bright red and put a hand up to cover the swollen cheek and eye. "Um well… Zoe hit me." He finally confessed.

"She hit ya? What in the hell did ya do to her?" Mal asked trying to hide his smirk.

"Gorram hun-dan had the nerve ta say he thought we should have a baby soon as I'm back on my feet." Zoe explained giving Jayne the evil eye.

"Oh so I'm guessin you got a different opinion on that matter huh?"

"Yeah the one where I don't gotta be fat and pregnant and have ta push a person outta me for quite awhile." Zoe muttered irritably.

"Doc says it's the hormones, she'll calm down in a day or two." Jayne whispered to Mal.

"Jayne if I hear ya say the word hormones one more time I'm gonna give you a matchin bruise on the other cheek!" Zoe called over her shoulder just as she reached the infirmary.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief ten minutes later when the pain medicine kicked and Zoe fell asleep.

Not finding the twins in their room Mal began to search the ship for his missing children. He took his time without getting worried, one nice thing about being in the Black, it was hard to misplace anyone for too long. Hearing giggling coming from the direction of the cargo bay Mal followed the noise and found his twins in the cargo bay standing beside River's cryo chamber.

"Hey my girls what're ya doin in here?" He asked and started down the stairs towards them.

"Tellin mommy stories." Haven explained without looking up.

"And tellin her bout the new baby." Annabelle added.

"So I take ya'll have seen yer new cousin then?" He asked.

Both girls nodded enthusiastically.

"So what do ya think?" Mal asked.

"He's really small. And he cries pretty loud, but he's pretty cute." Annabelle explained.

"Are we goin to find the stuff ta make mamma and Uncle Simon better?" Haven asked.

"I hope so baby girl. I hope so." Mal answered.

"Mal! Get up here now!" Jayne called from the infirmary, the tone of his voice instantly telling Mal that something was seriously wrong.

"You girls go to Aunt Kaylee's bunk and stay with her." Mal ordered quickly and set off in a run to the infirmary.

Jayne was standing outside looking freaked out when Mal ran up.

"Somethin wrong with Zoe?" Mal asked.

"No it's Dr. Tam." Jayne replied and pointed into the infirmary.

Giving Jayne one last confused glance Mal stepped into the infirmary. Gabriel was standing next to the exam table his hands were gripping the table so tightly that his knuckles had turned white and he was staring off into his space with his head tilted to one side.

"I tried talkin to him but he won't answer me." Jayne explained.

"Dr. Tam? Um Gabriel are you alright?" Mal asked quietly.

When he received no response he lightly shook his father in laws shoulder. "Dr. Tam?"

Gabriel suddenly sucked in a deep breath and shook his head like he was waking from a dream.

"We have to get out of here! They're coming now!" Gabriel shouted grabbing Mal by the shoulders tightly.

"Who's coming?" Mal asked.

"The Alliance. The man who did this to Simon and River, he knows where we are and he's coming." Gabriel replied.

"Jayne get Kaylee and have her get us ready to go to full burn." Mal ordered and ran to the bridge.

He brought up their course setting and wiped it from the ship's system and turned off auto-pilot. Taking the controls he changed Serenity's heading away from Bernadette and waited for Kaylee. Ten minutes later her voice sounded over the comm system.

"Ready Cap'n." She informed him.

Without hesitation Mal pushed Serenity to full burn and then put the ship back onto auto-pilot. Once he'd set in a new course he made his way back down to the infirmary, ready to find some answers. Gabriel and Jayne were standing next to each other leaning against the infirmary table obviously in an uncomfortable silence, in his arms Gabriel was holding his new born grandson. Kaylee arrived at the infirmary the same time that Mal did and looked at her captain in confusion as she took her son back from Gabriel.

"What's goin on? How come we had ta go ta full burn?" Kaylee asked.

"Alliance was onto us, we had ta change headings." Mal explained.

"What? How do ya know that?" Kaylee asked fearfully.

"Dr. Tam told us and I for one am anxious for him to explain just how he was so damn sure. I think I know, but I wanna hear it from him." Mal replied and looked pointedly at his father in law.

"So you've figured it out then Malcolm?" Gabriel asked looking down at the ground. "I should have said something sooner, but I just felt so guilty… about what happened to Simon and River, knowing that it's all my fault." He trailed off.

"What's yer fault? I don't get it." Kaylee said sounding frustrated, Jayne nodded his head in agreement.

"I wish they hadn't gotten it… if I could have kept them from inheriting this burden I would have, but I- I didn't know until they were older." Gabriel babbled sounding close to sobbing.

"What?! Will someone please explain ta me what in the gorram hell is goin on?" Jayne shouted.

Mal looked at Gabriel and the older man finally looked up and met his eye. Gabriel nodded, knowing that his son in law had already figured out what was causing him so much pain.

"He's a reader. Simon and River they got it from him." Mal explained sadly.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

The look of sorrow on Gabriel's face confirmed that Mal had guessed correctly, he was a reader.

"It was just something I was always able to do. When I was a child I thought it was something everyone could do, it wasn't until Simon started reading people that I even gave it much thought." Gabriel explained.

"But Simon wasn't a reader till the academy cut on his brain." Kaylee interrupted.

"No he's always been a reader, it was especially apparent when he was a small child. As he got older he stopped displaying his abilities so profoundly, I think when he realized it wasn't something normal he started suppressing it. River on the other hand was a different story. She never cared about trying to fit in. In fact I think she reveled in being different." Gabriel replied with a distant smile.

Mal smiled and laughed to himself, "Yeah that sounds like my bao-bei." He agreed fondly.

"Alright well as interesting as this is don't ya think we should be thinkin up a plan to get away from the Feds who're after us?" Jayne asked irritably.

Before Mal had a chance to respond he heard sniffling and looked up to see the twins walk into the infirmary holding hands and crying.

"Daddy the bad guys are comin ta get us. We can feel em." Annabelle whimpered and then began to sob harder, Haven followed her sister's example and her soft crying turned to wails.

Mal hurried over and pulled both of the girls into his arms, hating that his little girls had to suffer because of their reading abilities.

"Shhh… don't cry baby girls. We're runnin away from the bad guys dong ma? Aunt Kaylee's got the engine goin fast as it can and I changed course so they can't find us. No one is gonna get us I promise." He whispered soothingly.

Both girls clung tightly to their father's neck, but their sobs died down almost immediately.

"Hey girls yer daddy needs ta talk to Uncle Jayne and yer Grampa for a bit, how bout you come ta the kitchen with me and we'll give yer new cousin his first bath?" Kaylee said cheerfully trying to distract the girls.

Luckily it worked and the girls followed Kaylee from the infirmary without protesting. Once they were gone Mal sighed and leaned heavily against the counter.

"Just once can't somethin go easy? Get to Bernadette, that ain't so hard." He mumbled.

"So what now?" Jayne asked.

"Waterson is close, we'll set down there for a bit." Mal replied wearily not having any clue what they would do once they were set down on the small dusty moon.

Gabriel and Jayne both nodded and looked just as lost as Mal did.

They set down on Waterson two hours later during its night cycle. Waterson was a tiny moon, almost entirely unpopulated, no one bothered leaving the ship, but simply gathered in the galley together.

Zoe woke up just after they landed and joined everyone in the galley once Mal informed her of their current predicament. Mal and Jayne fixed a meal for everyone while Zoe rested and Kaylee and Gabriel kept the twins entertained.

"So you got any idea if the Alliance is still followin us or did we lose em?" Mal asked Gabriel once they'd finished eating.

Gabriel was silent for a few seconds and then shook his head. "I don't know Mal I'm sorry. I'm not the reader my children are. I don't sense anything, but I wouldn't be willing to bet our lives on the fact that they aren't still close."

Mal felt a small hand grasp his wrist and looked down to find Annabelle staring up at him.

"Somethin the matter baby?" He asked.

"Daddy the bad guys don't know where we are. Don't worry." She assured him sweetly while patting his wrist comfortingly.

"You sure bout that little one?" He asked.

Annabelle nodded solemnly and looked over her shoulder at Haven. "You think the bad guys are gone?" She asked her twin.

Haven scrunched up her face in concentration and then shook her head. "Nope they don't know where we are. The bad man is really mad cause he can't find us."

Mal smiled at his brilliant daughters and stood up to pull both of his children into an embrace.

"Thanks girls, you did a real good job." He whispered as he held them both.

"Alright so we're safe for now, but the second we try to make it to Bernadette they're gonna be on us again." Zoe pointed out.

"Yep anybody got any ideas?" Mal asked.

The silence that greeted him told him that no one else had a clue of what to do either.

"Well I'm thinkin we get some sleep tonight and maybehaps someone will have a bright idea by morning." Mal suggested seeing the exhausted looks on everyone's faces.

Later that night after putting the girls to bed Mal once again found himself in the cargo bay standing in front of River's cryo chamber.

"Hey bao-bei. Ya know I'm bettin if you were awake you'd already have a plan to get us past that Alliance cruiser. I'm sorry I ain't as smart as you, feel like I'm lettin ya down. The girls are doin ok, they're missin ya like crazy but they're bein so brave about it." Mal's voice cut off and he had to take a deep breath before he could continue.

"I'm so sorry bao-bei I'm lettin ya down. I'm lettin everybody down, but I'm gonna find a way to fix this I promise."

"Hey Cap'n ya down there?" Kaylee called.

"Yeah mei-mei I'm here." He called and stepped into the center of the room so that he could see his mechanic. She was standing on the catwalk holding the new baby in her arms and looking down at him.

"We got a wave comin in." She said sounding frightened.

Mal's hands clenched into fists and his heart began to pound. The only people who had even the slightest clue to their location were the people onboard and the Alliance.

"Gorram it! Send it up to the bridge, I'll take it there." He said between gritted teeth.

Mal knew he had no choice but to take the wave. They'd shut down their general waving capabilities, the only way anyone could wave them now was if they had a lock on their position.

Falling heavily into the pilot's seat Mal pushed the wave button and then stared in shock at the person looking back at him. He tried to think of something intelligent to say, but was still too surprised.

When he finally opened his mouth to speak only one word came out.

"Huh."


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Fifteen minutes after Mal had disappeared into the bridge he walked into the galley where the crew was anxiously waiting for him.

"We humped Cap'n?" Kaylee asked nervously.

"No but everyone get ready we're leavin in twenty minutes." He replied and then took a seat so he could explain the extent of his plan.

True to his word Serenity lifted off almost exactly twenty minutes later and resumed its course to Bernadette.

Captain Syler hurried to the bridge of his ship anxious to hear what news his men had for him.

"Captain we've found the Firefly, it's again on course towards Bernadette." His helmsman informed him.

"Alright try to pull them in so we can board them. If they resist or try to run blow that ship apart." Syler ordered with a wide smile on his face.

"They aren't resisting Sir and we've successfully locked onto them." The pilot informed him a few minutes later.

"Open a wave channel for me. They have to be playing at something if they didn't resist." Syler declared confidently.

"Yes Sir, wave channel open."

It was less than a minute later when a beeping noise indicated that the wave had been answered. Syler nodded to his helmsman and the wave was engaged. A strange gruff man was looking back at Syler from the wave screen. Syler furrowed his brow in confusion, he had files on every member of Serenity's crew and he didn't recognize this man.

"S'there a problem officer, some reason ya pulled my ship in? Cause I'm expected on Bernadette and it's gonna be late if this keeps up." The man growled at Syler.

"I'm looking for Captain Reynolds and his crew." Syler explained shortly.

The man gave Syler a confused look and shrugged.

"Sorry don't know a Captain Reynolds. Mayhap he's the fella that use ta own this bucket'o bolts." The man replied.

"Sir I don't know what you're trying here, but I know for a fact that that boat belongs to Malcolm Reynolds. Now if you don't put him or a member of his crew on this wave immediately I will have my men board the vessel and tear it apart until they are found." Syler threatened menacingly.

"Go ahead and board if'n ya want I ain't hidin nobody. And I already done told ya this here is my boat, I bought it fair and square three days ago on Osiris. Ya'll can check my paperwork if ya don't believe me." The man argued.

"Send a team over there. I want every inch of that ship searched for Reynolds and the Tams." Syler ordered to his first officer.

The man nodded and hurried from the room. Syler followed ten minutes later and walked into the cargo bay of Serenity where he was met by the gruff looking man and a crew of men he didn't recognize.

"Sir there's no sign of Reynolds or the Tams." His officer informed him a little fearfully.

"Where did you say you purchased this ship?" Syler asked turning to the apparently new captain of Serenity.

"The docks on Osiris three days ago. Guy seemed pretty anxious to get rid of it, let it go fer a steal."

"What did this man look like?"

The gruff captain looked up as he thought and twisted a finger in his bushy mustache. "Tall fella, brown hair, he was wearin a brown coat, think he was an ex-Independent. Had a pretty piece a trim with him, cept she was knocked up. Not like that really matters, makes it a little easier if ya don't gotta worry bout doin the deed yerself huh?" The captain replied and grinned broadly at Syler.

Syler groaned in frustration. "Did the man mention where he was going?"

"Actually yeah, said he was headed towards Ariel, something bout needin a hospital. I figured it was cause that tall drink a water was ready to pop the kid out any second."

"And you, why are you heading towards Bernadette?" Syler asked.

The captain looked at him in surprise and raised an eyebrow. "We ain't headed for Bernadette we're goin ta Dyton, droppin off a shipment of fertilizer and seeds. I got the paperwork for all of it." He added hastily.

Syler again groaned in frustration and turned to his first officer. "You're positive they aren't on board?"

"Yes Sir. We've searched the ship fully and haven't found anyone from Reynolds' crew."

"What about their paperwork is it all in order?" Syler asked.

"Yes Sir. He's transporting fertilizer and seeds to Dyton, I checked the shipping order carefully."

"Alright head back to the ship. We'll be leaving for Ariel immediately." Syler ordered.

"Thank you for your cooperation Captain…?" Syler asked.

The man held out a hand for Syler to shake and smiled. "Most folks just call me Monty."

Monty headed towards the bridge and watched as the Alliance vessel detached from Serenity and immediately went to full burn heading in the opposite direction of Bernadette.

"Damn them purple bellies are stupid." He laughed to his first mate. "Dial up Mal for me." He ordered.

Mal's face appeared on the wave screen a few seconds later, the familiar sight of Monty's own bridge behind him.

"It work?" Mal asked tensely.

"Yep they're on their way ta Ariel as we speak." Monty replied with a hearty laugh. "So can I have my ship back now Mal?"

"We'll take off and rendezvous in an hour." Mal replied and switched off the wave.

An hour later Serenity and Monty's ship The Pride and Joy were docked together. Kaylee nodded to Mal when the airlock was secure. Mal and his family hurried onto their ship where Monty and his crew were waiting.

"Uncle Monty!" The twins shouted as they ran to Monty and began to try and climb him. Monty smiled brightly and picked both girls up and threw them over his shoulder so that they were hanging upside down causing the girls to squeal with delight.

Mal shook Monty's hand tightly and then pulled the large man into a bear hug once he'd put the twins down.

"I can't thank ya enough for this Monty." He said.

"Ah hell Mal I owed ya for savin me from that whore of a woman Bridgette. Sides you know I love that little wife o' yours. We gotta do whatever it takes ta get her well again." Monty said warmly.

"Boys why don't ya help Mal get them two cryo units moved back over here." Monty ordered to a few of the men on his crew.

The men nodded and promptly walked over to The Pride and Joy and carried over first Simon and then River's cryo chambers.

"S'good seein ya again Mal. Can't believe how purty these two girls are gettin." Monty said as he squatted down so that he could hug the twins goodbye.

"And Miss Kaylee that little boy o' yours is one handsome boy. You and the Doc did good work." He added as he gave Kaylee a one armed hug and cooed down at the newborn boy.

"Thanks Monty you been a real help." She said warmly and squeezed the large man in return.

After the two ships had detached and The Pride and Joy was once again on its way to Dyton Mal turned to his father in law and his daughters.

"So can ya'll tell if the Alliance bought it? Are they really headed to Ariel?" Mal asked the group of readers.

The three were silent for a minute while they read the personnel on the Alliance vessel. Haven grinned up at her father and nodded excitedly. "Yep we tricked em real good. The bad man is yellin for them ta hurry up and get ta Ariel faster."

Gabriel nodded in agreement with his granddaughter. "She's right. The only thing I can sense from Captain Syler is anger and an urgency to reach Ariel."

Mal nodded his thanks. "Well runnin inta Monty on that crap moon was just about the biggest piece of real luck this crew has ever had."

Zoe nodded and gave Mal a tight smile. "Well it was bound to happen one day Sir."

"Kaylee we got enough fuel to make it ta Bernadette at full burn?" He asked.

"Yep, but we'll definitely need ta fuel up there if we're gonna take off again." She replied.

"Alright lets go ta full burn and get there fore somethin else happens." Mal instructed his crew.

"I'll take that baby Kaylee so you can get the engine ready." Zoe offered and smiled down affectionately at the little boy she'd carried.

"Thanks Zo." Kaylee replied gratefully and deposited the little boy into Zoe's waiting arms.

Gabriel took the twins to their room to play while Mal headed to the bridge to reset their course to Bernadette. They were back at full burn in less than ten minutes.

Jayne found Zoe in the common room sitting on the couch with the new baby. She was staring down at him with a mixture of happiness and sadness that made Jayne's heart hurt just a little bit.

"Hey Zo you doin alright?" He asked as he settled himself on the couch beside her.

"Yeah just thinking bout what a pretty baby he is." She replied.

"He is at that. Looks a lot like Simon, but I think he's gonna turn out more like his ma. Already seems ta have that sunny personality don't he?" Jayne asked and brushed one finger down the baby's soft cheek, making the baby's lips suckle in his sleep.

"I changed my mind Jayne." She said suddenly.

"Changed yer mind bout what?" Jayne asked.

"I want to have a baby with you. I'm sorry it took me so long ta figure out what it is I want. I just never figured on ever havin a baby with anyone but Wash and it was hard to see past that." She explained.

"I ain't him Zo. I can't take his place." Jayne said quietly.

Zoe reached out one hand and put it on Jayne's cheek and directed his head up so that she could look him squarely in the eyes.

"I know you ain't him Jayne and I never tried to pretend you were. But I was afraid if I had a baby with you maybe I'd wish that it was his." She explained honestly.

Jayne swallowed thickly and cleared his throat. "You ain't afraid a that anymore?" He asked.

"No I'm not. You know how I knew things had changed?" She asked.

Jayne shook his head. "How?"

"Because when I was havin this little guy here and I was in pain, it was you I wanted holding my hand, not him. And I realized that if it were my own baby, I'd want you bein there holdin my hand then too. I love you Jayne Cobb, I'm sorry it took me so long to figure it out." She whispered.

Jayne's face broke into a large grin and he leaned forward to kiss Zoe deeply.

"S'ok I know I ain't the easiest guy in the Verse ta love."

"Yes you are. Maybe too easy ta love. Cause I fell for you before I even knew it had happened." She replied kindly.

"I love you too Zo, very much. So you really wanna have one a these?" He asked and nodded down to the little baby in her arms.

"Well maybe not for a little while. I'd like to not be pregnant for a bit, but yes I want one of these with you." She said surely.

"Hey I waited this long I figure I can wait a bit longer." He assured her kindly.

Jayne kissed her once more and began to leave the room, he turned around suddenly and gave Zoe a concerned look.

"But we can still do it without tryin fer a kid right?" He asked sounding close to a panic.

Zoe laughed and nodded. "Soon as the Doc says we can." She assured him.

"Oh thank Buddha fer that!" He called as he walked away.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

To Mal's everlasting surprise they reached Bernadette three days later with no further complications. They landed at the docks in Freeson the second largest city on Bernadette with no clue of how to proceed. They'd searched the Cortex for information on anyone named Maria Gray and had found no one who seemed like they could be Simon and River's mother. They had also found no towns on Bernadette named Stoneridge.

"Anything?" Mal asked Gabriel. It was the fifth night they'd been set down on Bernadette.

Gabriel sighed and sat back in his chair rubbing his eyes tiredly. "Nothing, Stoneridge has to be something else, because it definitely isn't a town or parish of any kind at least not here on Bernadette."

"I'm thinkin maybe we need ta get out and talk to the locals, maybe somebody'll know somethin." Mal suggested.

Gabriel nodded in agreement, "So what do you suggest?"

"You feel like getting a drink?" Mal asked with a grin.

Four hours later Mal and his father in law were completely drunk but had still found none of the information they were looking for.

"Mal I gotta ask ya… what made you and River get together?" Gabriel asked only slurring his words slightly.

Mal raised his eyebrow, "Whatda ya mean?"

"I mean you're quite a bit older than her and as I understand it when the two of you first got together she was not exactly stable. So I'm just wondering what would make Ex-brown coat who is a captain of his own ship fall in love with a mentally unstable girl who is half his age." Gabriel asked.

"Well just look at her. Who couldn't fall in love with her? She's amazing. She's smart, and beautiful, and talented, and she's the only woman I ever met who loved me just the way I am. Never asked me to change for her and didn't try to change for me. She's always exactly who she is, don't matter if other people don't get her, she's still just her." Mal explained with more honesty than he would have if he'd been sober.

"I'm glad she found you Mal. You're a good man." Gabriel complimented and slapped Mal on the back affectionately.

"Thanks doctor Tam that's nice ta hear." Mal replied blushing a little at the compliment.

"Ya know Mal you can call me Gabriel if ya want or dad even."

Mal laughed and finished his beer. "Dad huh? That'll take some getting use to."

Gabriel stumbled a little as he stood up and walked to the bar to get them two more beers. As he was waiting for the bartender he couldn't help but over hear the conversation that the men next to him were having.

"Cheers to ya finishin med school!" One friend shouted to the other as he raised his glass.

"Only took five years, but I'm done!" The other man slurred and raised his own drink.

"So what ya gonna do now that yer done?"

"I got an interview over at Stoneridge, hopefully I'll get on there." The new doctor replied.

Gabriel's heart leapt in his chest when he heard the name Stoneridge mentioned.

"Yer gonna work in the bug house? His friend asked with a loud laugh.

"Hell if they pay me I'll work anywhere."

Gabriel turned and tapped the young doctor on the shoulder. "S'cuse me son, but I couldn't help but overhear, what's Stoneridge?"

The younger man gave him a strange look and then shrugged. "It's the mental institution over in Parson, bout an hour from here." He explained still looking confused.

Gabriel's face broke into a wide smile and he shook the man's hand enthusiastically. "Thank you so much!" He nearly shouted and turned to head back to his table leaving the beers on the bar.

"How come he was so happy ta hear about a nut house?" The doctor's friend asked.

"No idea, kinda seems like he might need one though."

"Where's the beers?" Mal asked when Gabriel returned to the table empty handed.

"I found Stoneridge." Gabriel replied excitedly.

"You- you what?" Mal asked convinced that he hadn't heard him correctly.

"I found Stoneridge. It's a mental institution an hour away." Gabriel informed him.

Mal jumped out of his seat and whooped loudly as he grabbed Gabriel in a bear hug. The two drunk men shouted together and jumped up and down causing the entire bar to look at them.

"You found Stoneridge!" Mal shouted at the top of his lungs.

The two men shouted in joy one more time and then practically ran out of the bar.

"Wow, never seen anyone get so excited bout a crazy hospital." The bartender commented to the doctor and his friend.

Despite their drunken state Mal and Gabriel ran back to Serenity in record time.

"Kaylee! Jayne! Zoe!" Mal shouted as he ran into the ship.

"What're ya hollerin about?" Jayne asked from his weight bench.

"We found Stoneridge!" Mal shouted just as Kaylee and Zoe ran into the room.

Kaylee shrieked with joy and then pressed a kiss to her son's cheek.

"Mei-mei you wanna get the engines goin? We're gonna head over to Parson, Stoneridge is a hospital there." Mal instructed as he headed for the bridge.

Without a word Kaylee deposited the baby into Zoe's waiting arms and hurried to the bridge. The trip to Parson only took them twenty minutes and before Mal knew it they had landed outside the small town in an empty field. Once they were landed Mal called the crew to the galley where they gathered around the table.

"So this Stoneridge place is a nut house?" Jayne asked.

"I just finished checking the local listings on the Cortex and Stoneridge Mental Health Care Facility was listed." Gabriel confirmed.

"So what do ya think Simon's ma is doin there?" Kaylee asked.

"Well either she's an employee or a patient, if she's there at all." Gabriel replied.

"So what do we do? Just go in there and ask around?" Zoe asked.

"Actually I gotta great plan, well guess I didn't technically think a the plan, but still it's a good one. Remember when I was sick after I got shot in the woods and ya'll stole that medicine? I say we do that again, we got a doctor right her and we still got that straight jacket Jayne wore. I think that'll be enough ta get me and Gabriel inside the hospital." Mal explained looking proud of himself.

"Hey Mal I know yer brain was all messed up then but do ya recall how I got shot and River got stabbed during that plan? I'm thinkin that's not a plan we wanna be repeating." Jayne replied giving Mal the same skeptical look he gave the captain about most of his plans.

"Yeah I know it didn't work out so well the last time, but this is different. This is just a nut house, not an Alliance medical testing place. Security won't be near as tight." Mal responded.

"Well gotta say I like Mal havin ta be the crazy guy this time." Jayne snorted.

"Anyway so Gabriel you think you could make some believable lookin transfer papers?" Mal asked.

Gabriel thought for a second before nodding, "I think I could probably make something that would work as long as they didn't look too closely."

Mal clapped his hands together and stood up. "Alright so we gotta plan. Jayne while Gabriel is workin on them papers me and you gotta go down at dig that straight jacket outta storage. Kaylee will ya keep an eye on the girls while we're workin?"

Kaylee nodded and gave Mal a bright smile looking happier than she had in a long time. "Course Cap'n. They were gonna help me with the baby anyway." Kaylee replied as she stood up from the table.

It took Mal and Jayne nearly three hours to dig through the boxes out of the cargo hold and find the straight jacket that they had used during the first heist. Once they found it Jayne held it out in front of him with a disgruntled look on his face.

"You sure bout this Mal?" Jayne asked as he handed the jacket to the captain.

"If it gets River better then yeah I'm sure." Mal replied certainly.

Jayne thought about how he'd felt when Zoe had told him she was sick. If it was her who was still sick he knew he'd go into that hospital in an instant.

By the time Gabriel finished the paperwork it was too late to go to the hospital. Mal finished locking down the ship for the night and then headed to the girls bedroom to tuck them in for the night.

To his surprise he found Gabriel sitting with the girl. Mal stood just outside the door and listened as Gabriel talked to the twins.

"Then what happened?" Haven asked.

"Well we looked all over the shopping center for an hour, we even had the security people looking for her, but we couldn't find her anywhere. Then the house keeper called me and told me that River was at home. Turns out she got bored waiting for Simon and I to finish shopping and she decided to take a transport shuttle home by herself." Gabriel explained.

"Mommy left and went home all by herself? We'd be in so much trouble if we ever did that." Annabelle exclaimed.

"Oh trust me she was in trouble too. I thought I'd lost her forever and she was at home the whole time. She was grounded for a month; no movies, no toys, and she wasn't allowed to go to dance class." Gabriel replied.

Haven climbed up into Gabriel's lap then and laid her head on her grandfather's shoulder.

"You love mommy and Uncle Simon a whole lot huh?" She asked.

"Very very much. As much as your daddy loves you."

"Yeah daddy loves us a lot, mommy does too." Annabelle replied.

"Do you love us too grampa?" Haven asked.

"Of course I do bao-bei. I'm so happy that I got the chance to meet you both. I was a very lonely man before you girls came to stay at my house." Gabriel said sadly.

"But you're not lonely now?" Annabelle asked curiously.

"Not anymore. Now I have my family back." Gabriel replied and gave Haven a tight hug.

"I'm glad yer in our family grampa." She giggled as he hugged her.

"Me too bao-bei. Me too." Gabriel replied.

"Now I think you girls had better get to bed. I'll see you in the morning." Gabriel said as he tucked the girls in and gave each of them a kiss on their foreheads.

"Night grampa." Haven replied sweetly.

"Hey grampa you wanna have a tea party with us tomorrow?" Annabelle asked.

"I'd love to have a tea party tomorrow." He answered as he switched out the light and stepped out of the room.

He turned around and jumped a bit when he noticed Mal standing in front of him.

"Sorry didn't mean ta scare ya. I was just comin to put the girls to bed, but I see ya already done that." Mal said.

"I hope that's alright, they asked me to tell them a story." Gabriel replied uncertainly.

"Not a problem. How old was River? When she got lost?" Mal asked.

"She was six. I turned my back for just a second to help Simon try on a pair of shoes, when I turned around she was gone. I had never been so scared in my life. Then I got home and she was eating cookies and mad at me for taking so long getting home."

Mal laughed as he headed towards his bunk. "Yeah that sounds like River alright. You ready for tomorrow Gabriel?"

"I've never had to act before, but if it will save my children I'll do anything I have to." Gabriel answered as he waved goodnight to Mal.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

"I hate it when the plan doesn't get screwed up." Mal whispered to Gabriel.

Gabriel was pushing Mal on a gurney down the hall of the Stoneridge Mental Healthcare Facility and Mal was looking up at him with a scowl on his face.

"Wait did you just say you hate it when the plan goes right?" Gabriel whispered back, sure he'd heard his son in law wrong.

"Yeah things are goin just too smooth, which means somethin really bad is gonna happen. It always works that way." Mal explained grumpily.

Gabriel smirked and pushed Mal into the room that he'd been assigned to. Once inside Gabriel shut and locked the door and then undid the straps holding the captain to the gurney.

"I have to admit that was simple. They didn't even glance twice at those papers I made up." Gabriel agreed.

"So what now?" Mal asked not sure of how to proceed now that he'd officially been committed.

"Now I'm going to head to the doctor's lounge and see if I can find out if Maria Gray is a patient or an employee. I'll take you down to the common room first, you can mingle with the patients and see if you can figure anything out from that end." Gabriel instructed.

"So I'm gonna be hangin out in a room full of crazy people? Damn I really shoulda made Jayne do this, he'd fit right in." Mal muttered.

"I'm sure you'll do fine, just remember not to look too sane or else the doctor's might realize you don't need to be here." Gabriel reminded as he walked Mal to the recreation room.

Once inside Mal stood near the door looking uncertainly around the room. No one was really acting crazy; there were some people playing Chinese checkers, a few watching a Cortex Vid, and many others who seemed to be just milling around.

Mal ambled over to a seat against the wall that would let him have a vantage point of the entire room, trying the whole time to look crazy. He'd only been sitting for a minute or two when he saw her. He knew instantly that he was looking at River and Simon's mother, the family resemblance was impossible to miss. She had Simon's black hair and both of the sibling's fair skin. When she glanced up for a split second he saw that she had River's large dark brown eyes. She was sitting across the room from him staring out a window, her long hair hanging down and covering most of her face just like River's use to.

Glancing around Mal noticed that the nurse and security officer were talking and not paying much attention to the patients in the room. He stood and walked over to the woman and sat down in a chair near hers. He didn't say anything at first, just waited to see if she would speak to him or perhaps freak out by his nearness. When she did neither Mal finally turned so that he was looking directly at her and smiled.

"Hi I'm Mal. I'm new here." He said quietly.

The woman glanced up at him and Mal felt chills run down his back, she looked so much like River it was scary.

"Maria." She whispered and then looked back out the window.

"Seems like a nice place here." He said and got no response from her.

"Is it? A nice place I mean?" He asked trying again to draw her out.

"They make it look nice." She whispered without looking away from the window. "But they lie."

"How do they lie?" He asked.

"They tell lies make people seem crazy when they're not."

"Did they do that to you?" Mal asked. He'd completely forgotten about trying to act crazy, he was simply intrigued by what this woman was telling him.

"They took them from me, said they weren't real, but they were real I remember them. That doesn't make me crazy." She insisted sounding near tears.

"Who'd they take from you?"

"My babies. They put them in me and then they took them and told me they were never real. But they were real I know they were real." She said loudly making the security guard run over.

"Hey there Mary you get all upset again? I thought we were gonna have good day today remember?" The man asked as he made his way towards Mal and the woman.

"But they were real!" She screamed out jumping up from her chair and making it crash to the ground.

"Sure they were real Mary. I know. Let's go back to your room now alright, you can look at those drawings you made of em." The guard soothed as he led her away.

Mal was stuck in the recreation room for the rest of the afternoon. It wasn't as bad as he expected and actually enjoyed having an afternoon to sit around quietly, watch movies, and play Chinese checkers.

He then thought about the fact that he was enjoying an afternoon in a mental institution and realized just how badly he needed a vacation.

Once he'd been taken back to his room he paced anxiously waiting for Gabriel to return. It was another two hours before he heard the key turn in his lock and Gabriel entered the room.

"I'm sorry I got here as quickly as possible." He apologized when he saw the look on Mal's face.

"You got any idea how boring it is just sittin in a tiny ass room like this? No wonder the people here are crazy, I'm gonna go crazy if I gotta do this much longer." Mal grumbled.

"I think I may have found Maria Gray. There's a patient here under the name of Mary Grayson, the names are so close it can't be a coincidence." Gabriel informed him.

Mal nodded. "I know I met her."

"You met her? Are you sure it was the right woman?" Gabriel asked hopefully.

"The guard called her Mary and she looks just like River. There ain't no doubt, she's gotta be their ma." Mal said certainly.

"This is wonderful. Alright once its lights out we'll go into her room and get the blood sample, we can be out of here before anyone even realizes we're gone." Gabriel said happily.

"And just leave her here?" Mal asked.

"I- well I hadn't really considered that. I mean if she's unstable we really can't risk taking her with us." Gabriel answered uncertainly.

"She was talking about how someone took her children away from her. Told her they weren't real, but she knew that they were. What if she's talkin about Simon and River and she ain't crazy?"

"Alright then we'll talk to her. Try and explain why we need the blood sample. We'll just have to make a decision then." Gabriel finally said.

The lights in Mal's room suddenly clicked off signaling lights out. They waited another twenty minutes before leaving the room cautiously. Before leaving his room Mal changed out of the hospital pajamas he'd been forced to wear and back into his own clothes that Gabriel has smuggled in. He slid his brown duster on and immediately felt more at ease.

"You know where her room is?" Mal whispered.

Gabriel nodded and gestured for Mal to follow him. Moving quickly and quietly down the hall they were able to make it up to the next floor where Maria's room was located. Gabriel unlocked the door and they slipped inside quickly locking the door behind them.

Maria was lying on her bed with her back to them when they entered and didn't react when they walked into the room.

"Hey Maria you remember me from earlier in the rec room?" Mal whispered gently but didn't get a response.

Gabriel suddenly tapped Mal's arm to get his attention. Looking over his shoulder at Gabriel Mal saw that the older man was pointing at the wall behind Mal's head. Mal turned around and was greeted by a picture of his wife. It was a simple pencil drawing on a sheet of notebook paper, but it was so real that for a moment Mal felt as if he were really looking at his wife's beautiful face. Tearing his eyes away from the portrait of River, Mal saw that hanging next to it was a picture of Simon every bit as amazingly detailed as the one of his sister. Mal moved so that the dim light could hit the pictures better and then saw that the two he'd noticed were the first of many.

The entire wall was plastered with pictures of Simon and River at all different ages. All of them were hand drawn and all of them were exquisite. There were picture of River laughing, crying, even one that showed the confused frightened look on her face when she had an episode. The portraits of Simon were equally as real and as detailed.

Mal stood with his mouth open staring in awe at the pictures. Finally he shook himself out of the shock he was in and turned back around to face Maria. Moving slowly so as not to frighten her he sat down on the bed beside her.

"Those pictures are beautiful. Did you draw them?" He whispered.

Finally Maria turned over and stared up at Mal. He could tell from the glassy look in her eyes that she'd been given some sort of drug.

"My babies. The doctors say they aren't real, no one believes me. But I remember them and I see them, in here." She explained and pointed to her temple.

"I believe you Maria. I know your children and they're just like they are in your pictures."

Maria sat up and Mal saw the glassy look in her eyes be replaced with a look of hope. Just as quickly as the look of hope lit her eyes it disappeared.

"You can't know them. You're feng-le." She said dejectedly.

"I ain't crazy I promise." Mal assured her.

She looked at him and raised one eye brow, giving him a condescending look. "You're in a mental institution."

"So are you, but you don't seem crazy." He countered. "I promise I know your children. Your daughter is my wife. Her name is River."

Maria stared at him for a long time her eyes continuing to shift between hope and doubt. After a minute or so Mal recognized the far off look her face had and realized with a jolt that she was reading him, just as River had done so many times. He tried to keep his mind focused on River hoping that Maria would realize he wasn't playing a cruel joke on her.

"She's real? She's really real?" She whispered as she grabbed onto Mal's arm fiercely.

"I swear on my life."

"My son? You know him too?"

"His name is Simon, he's a doctor, a trauma surgeon." Mal explained.

Maria pulled in a shaky breath and then let it out in a long sigh. "I always believed it in my heart, but they kept telling me I was crazy. They said I never had any babies, that I made the whole thing up. Sometimes I thought they were right, thought I was crazy." She sobbed.

Gabriel hurried over and knelt down beside Mal so that he could take Maria's hand in his own.

"My name is Gabriel Tam. I'm Simon and River's father." He introduced.

Maria pulled her hand out of Gabriel's grasp and stared at him suspiciously. "Are you Alliance? Did you do this to me?"

"No I swear. I was tricked just like you were. My wife was working for the Alliance, but I never knew. I thought River and Simon were my children with her, I had no idea they'd been taken from you." Gabriel promised praying that she would believe him.

Maria again grew quite as she read Gabriel. "They're in trouble, sick. You need my help." She whispered pulling the thoughts from his mind.

"Yes the Alliance made them sick, they were trying to get them back. But we can help them, you and I."

"Maria I want you to come with us. I have a ship called Serenity. We can be in the Black in thirty minutes and away from all of this." Mal told her quietly. "Will you come with us, please?"

Maria nodded immediately and stood up from the bed, staggering slightly from the effects of the drugs.

"My pictures can I take them?" She asked.

Mal nodded and without a word began helping her carefully take the pictures from the walls.

"River draws too. Not as good as this, but she's really good." He commented as they gently gathered the portraits together.

"I don't understand how we'll get out of here. There are guards on all the doors." She commented.

"Your son Simon his wife is a right genius when it comes to mechanical stuff. She rigged us up somthin just fer this occasion." Mal assured her as they slipped out of her room.

Moving down the hall a little way Mal stopped at a control pad that was built into the wall and pulled out the small electronic device that Kaylee had given him. After a few seconds of fiddling with wires Mal heard a beep that confirmed he had followed Kaylee's instructions correctly. As soon as they heard the beep the hall lights shut off plunging them into darkness.

"Alright we got about five minutes or so till they override that thingy Kaylee gave me and get the lights back on. We're gonna high tale it to the fire stairs and out the back." Mal instructed as he hurried down the hall with the others close behind him.

He turned a corner, hoping that he was remembering the schematics they'd downloaded from the Cortex correctly. As soon as he turned the corner he saw the fire exit straight ahead of him. Unfortunately between him and the exit were three security guards.

Not wanting to give them a chance to prepare he rushed straight at them screaming loudly, looking every bit like the madman they assumed he was. Mal reached the first guard and tackled him, driving his shoulder into the man's stomach and forcing him to the ground. Not wasting a moment he jumped up and swung a punch at the second guard. The punch didn't hit as hard as Mal would have liked, this guard had enough warning to move backward a bit, but it did stun him for a moment.

Unfortunately it wasn't as long as Mal had hoped it would be. He threw himself at the third guard but was stopped as the second guard grabbed him around the waist and pulled him to the ground.

Mal's head connected with the tile floor with a muffled bang and Gabriel winced as Mal went limp. Not knowing what else to do Gabriel launched himself at the two guards who were approaching him. The first guard was still on the ground struggling to catch his breath from the blow Mal had delivered. To Gabriel's surprise he saw out of the corner of his eye Maria running along side him towards the guards.

They both ran straight at the guards plowing into them at waist level and knocking them to the ground. Springing quickly to his feet Gabriel grabbed the back of Mal's shirt and pulled him towards the fire escape door, Maria beat him to the door and held it open. Without wasting a second Gabriel tossed Mal into the stairwell and jumped quickly through it. Maria slammed the door behind him and braced herself against it just as one of the guards threw his weight onto the other side.

Gabriel cursed and pushed his shoulder against the door bracing on foot onto the stair handrail.

"Mal! Wake up!" Gabriel shouted.

"What now? We can't hold this much longer." Maria asked fearfully as another bang from the other side nearly opened the door.

"Malcolm Reynolds! Get your pi-gu off that floor now soldier!" Gabriel shouted not really knowing where he'd learned to yell like that.

Hearing the word soldier seemed to do the trick and Mal suddenly groaned and pushed himself up off the floor. He glanced around in confusion and his eyes widened when he saw Gabriel and Maria desperately trying to hold the door closed. Shaking his head to clear the fogginess Mal pulled another electronic pad from his coat and placed it against the keypad next to the door. An electronic beep issued from the device and the next thing Mal heard was grunts and cursing from the guards as they slammed into a now locked door. Smiling at the guard's frustration Mal grabbed Maria's hand and pulled her down the stairs.

They reached the ground floor without running into anymore security and burst out into the chilly night air. Thirty feet away from the back of the hospital Mal and Gabriel had hidden the mule in a small grove of trees. Before entering the hospital that morning Mal had cut a small hole in the security fence surrounding the place, it was to this hole that Mal led the group. Slipping through the cut wire Mal turned to make sure that Gabriel and Maria were still behind him. From behind his father in law Mal saw a group of security guards burst from the fire escape door and another group run around the side of the building.

The three of them sprinted the thirty feet to the mule and jumped inside without a word. Mal pulled a comm unit from his pocket with one hand while he started the mule with the other.

"Kaylee we're on our way, gonna have some folks behind us so we need to be ready to fly soon as we get there dong ma?" Mal shouted into the comm as he steered the mule out of the trees.

"Gotcha Cap'n. Engines are warmed up and Zoe's ready to take off soon as ya'll are back." She replied cheerfully, not seeming to be fazed by the notion of folks chasing them.

Mal pulled the mule into Serenity and then slammed onto the brakes making the three of them jolt forward violently.

Mal smiled proudly as he felt Serenity lift off less than a second later before the ramp doors had even closed. Damn but he did have a fine crew.

Jayne and Kaylee were waiting anxiously as they climbed from the mule and raised their eyebrows in confusion when they noticed the woman climbing from the mule with Mal and Gabriel.

"Thought you was bringin back some blood, not a whole person." Jayne commented.

"Yeah well things changed a bit. This here is Maria, Simon and River's ma." Mal introduced.

Maria didn't seem to hear the introduction; she was busy staring around her in awe at the ship. Mal didn't know how long she'd been in the hospital but he reckoned it had been a long time. He gently put a hand on her shoulder and she snapped back to the present giving Mal a surprised look.

"Maria this here is Jayne and this lovely woman is Kaylee, she's married to yer son Simon." He introduced.

Maria nodded at Jayne and gave Kaylee a warm but guarded smile.

"Kaylee maybe you and Gabriel could help get Maria settled into a room and you could tell her a bit about Simon. I gotta go check with Zoe on some stuff." Mal instructed.

He found Zoe in the pilot's seat just breaking atmo when he walked onto the bridge.

"We got anyone on our tail Zo?" Mal asked.

"Not yet, but I'm thinkin we should go to full burn soon as possible Sir." She replied.

"Not gonna argue with ya on that notion." Mal answered and fell into the co-pilot's seat with a groan.

Zoe turned to look at him and grimaced when she was his face. "Might wanna have the doctor look at that Sir."

"Look at what?" Mal asked.

"The big ass cut and lump on yer forehead." She said and gestured towards his face.

Mal reached up and gingerly touched his forehead, wincing when he felt the large gash near his hairline. Now that he was aware of the cut Mal realized he also had blood running from down his forehead and from his nose as well.

Mal and Zoe both turned around when they heard a light knocking on the door behind them. Gabriel was standing in the doorway. "Mal you should probably let me take a look at your face soon."

Mal nodded in agreement and stood up from the chair, swaying with dizziness a bit as he did. "Guess you wouldn't be wrong about that."

Mal followed Gabriel to the infirmary and took a seat in the exam chair. Gabriel began to pull supplies out from various cupboards and drawers and Mal was once again struck by how much Simon resembled his father. As Gabriel began to clean out the cut on his head Mal was surprised to find how much he missed Simon. Not that Gabriel wasn't a fine doctor, but Simon had saved his life more times than he could count and he missed having his brother in law fix him up when he was injured.

"So you think she's really crazy?" Mal asked.

Gabriel furrowed his brow and sighed. "Honestly no I don't. I can't be sure I'll need to spend some time with her, maybe even give her a psychological exam, but she doesn't seem unstable."

"Yeah but she don't seem quite right either." Mal countered.

"True, but I'd say that probably has more to do with the fact that she's spent who knows how long in a mental institution. Plus she's a reader, its possible that the Alliance damaged her the way they did River." Gabriel replied.

"You noticed her readin too huh? Guess that's why they picked both of you." Mal pondered.

"I thought the same thing." Gabriel agreed.

"So you gonna talk to her?" Mal asked as Gabriel finished applying the weave to his forehead.

Gabriel looked at Mal in surprise. "Me? Why am I talking to her?"

"Well I figure you probably got the most in common with her. You're both readers and besides you all got two kids together. Don't ya think she might wanna hear about em, from their other parent I mean?" Mal pointed out.

Gabriel nodded and pressed his lips together into a thin worried line. "I suppose you're right. Well you're all done, keep that bandage on tonight and keep it clean." He instructed.

Mal nodded and stood up from the exam chair. He left the infirmary to check in the Zoe and Kaylee once more to make sure that they were at full burn and not being followed. On his way from the engine room to the bridge he glanced down into the cargo bay and saw Gabriel standing with Maria.

The captain stepped back into the shadows where he could watch the two without interrupting. They were speaking quietly so he couldn't overhear what they were saying. After a few minutes Mal watched as Gabriel led Maria over to the pile of crates where the cryo chambers were hidden. He felt his heart wrench a little as he watched Maria walk cautiously first to Simon and then River's chambers. She sank down between the two and placed one hand on each of the chambers.

It was when she bowed her head and began to sob that Mal turned and left the room, giving the two parents the time and privacy to grieve and rejoice over the children they had both lost and suddenly found again.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A/N- Sorry about the delay in updating. This chapter was really difficult to write for some reason.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

"Where to Sir?" Zoe asked as Mal walked onto the bridge.

"Just get us to the loneliest emptiest piece of space you can find. Gabriel's gonna need a few days to get the antivirus ready and till its done I don't wanna run into anybody, Alliance or otherwise." Mal instructed.

Zoe nodded and began entering a flight sequence. "So you brought the woman back with you? That a good idea Sir?" She asked without looking at him.

"Didn't know what else ta do, I couldn't just leave her in that place."

"It's just with the children can we really risk having a crazy woman on board?" She replied.

"Don't think she's crazy. I think the Alliance stuck her in there to keep her quiet. Ain't no one gonna listen to a crazy woman, so they put her where no one was gonna believe a gorram word she said."

Zoe nodded in understanding and finally turned to look at Mal. "Hope you're right Sir."

Mal nodded in agreement and left the bridge to find his daughters. He was disappointed to find that Kaylee had already put the girls to bed and both of them were sound asleep by the time he checked on them.

Gabriel was helping Maria settle into a passenger bunk and Mal passed by quietly not wanting to interrupt their conversation. Not knowing what else to do with himself Mal began making his nightly rounds of the ship.

He heard the crying before he reached the engine room and hurried inside to make sure everything was alright.

He found Kaylee walking the length of the engine room with her new baby in her arms. The baby was wailing at the top of his lungs and Kaylee herself looked close to tears.

"Hey mei-mei what's goin on?" He asked and gestured towards the crying baby.

"Sorry Cap'n I just can't get him to calm down. He's been goin on like this for almost an hour." She sobbed, finally breaking into tears.

"Mei-mei how longs it been since you slept?" He asked as he put an arm around her trembling shoulders.

Kaylee shrugged. "Got a few hours last night, but not much." She admitted.

Mal gently pulled the crying boy from Kaylee's arms and began patting his back.

"You go get some sleep. That's an order from yer captain." Mal instructed and pushed Kaylee towards the door.

"But I can't just leave him with ya Cap'n. The way he's carryin on." She protested.

"Hey now I have done this before ya know and when I did it there was two of em. I think I can handle one baby for the night. I need you rested case somethin goes wrong with the ship, now get." He ordered once more.

Kaylee gave him a grateful smile and left the engine room. Mal cradled the crying baby and looked down at him.

"Well now little man, what's the problem?" He asked the little boy and then put him over his shoulder and bounced him slightly.

Mal soon found that the only way to keep the little boy quiet was if the captain walked around and bounced the baby. Three hours later he was in the cargo bay still walking and bouncing as the little boy cooed happily against Mal's chest.

"Is that Simon's baby?" Maria asked suddenly standing behind Mal.

Mal jumped a little and was strongly reminded of River and how silently she could move.

"Yeah this is him. Kaylee was bout dead on her feet so I offered to baby sit the little guy so's she could get some sleep."

Maria stepped closer to Mal and peered at her grandson. She smiled and lovingly brushed one finger down his cheek.

"He looks just like Simon did when he was born." She whispered.

"You saw Simon? I mean when he was born, I guess I just don't get what happened." Mal babbled. "What'd they do to you?" He finally asked.

Maria shrugged and continued to stare at the baby.

"I was fifteen when they took me. I had just started the graduate program at Persephone GenEd and one day I came into my dorm room to find two Feds waiting for me. They told me I was being taken to an Academy for gifted students. I politely turned them down, told them I was happy with my school and the next thing I saw was one of the men pull out a syringe. I woke up at the Academy."

"They just took ya? What about yer folks, didn't they look for you?" He asked.

"They died in a shuttle crash when I was twelve. They were wealthy and I started going to boarding school after they died. There wasn't anyone to come looking for me."

"So what happened once you were there? Did they do stuff to yer brain, operations I mean?" Mal asked.

Maria gave him a confused look and shook her head. "No, they drugged me much of the time and did a lot of psychological tests, but they never operated on me. Then about a year after I'd been there they took me out of class and sedated me. They never even explained what they were doing to me, just knocked me out and then put me back in my room. Four weeks later they took me out of class again and to the hospital ward to run a pregnancy test. When it came back positive they told me that I was having a baby who was going to be the hope of the Alliance."

"What'd you do?" Mal asked.

"There wasn't anything I could do. They had watched me closely before, but after I was pregnant they never left me alone. The doctors made sure I ate right and exercised, and then when I was about five months pregnant they began sedating me again. I'd wake up with needle marks on my belly and I knew they were doing something to the baby, but they never told me what. When I had him they let me hold him for a few minutes." Maria finished and wiped away the tears that had been building.

"They just took him?"

Maria nodded and pulled in a shaky breath. "There was this woman who worked at the Academy, Reagan was her name. She was the one who did most of the tests on me. She came into my room and pulled him out of my arms, then she just walked out with my baby. Never said a word to me, just took him and left."

"Reagan was married to Gabriel, they all thought she was their mother." Mal confirmed bitterly, he always thought there was no way he could hate the Alliance more, but things just kept happening to do just that.

Maria wiped another tear away and nodded. "After they took Simon they sent me to Stoneridge, I kept trying to tell the doctors there about him, but no one ever believed me. They probably knew it was true the whole time. Nine years later they came for me again and kept me at the Academy while I was pregnant with River. They never even let me hold her, just took her away as soon as she was born. Then they sent me back to Stoneridge."

"Gorram Feds think they can do whatever the hell they want to people." Mal muttered bitterly.

"Can I hold him?" She asked suddenly.

Mal wasn't sure how Kaylee would feel about letting a woman fresh from a mental institution hold her son. But knowing Kaylee he figured she'd let her.

"Uh yeah sure." Mal replied and handed the baby boy to his grandmother.

"He's so beautiful. I don't know how to thank you for what you did Malcolm. I never thought I'd leave that place and I never imagined I'd see my children again, let alone grandchildren. This is more than I could have ever hoped for." Maria gushed.

"Just wait till you meet Simon and River. You'll be very proud of your children." Mal promised.

"I hope Gabriel can make them better, if I lost them now, I don't what I would do." She cried.

"We ain't gonna lose em. Me and the girls need River too much to lose her. And Simon ain't even met his son yet." Mal whispered.

"The girls?" Maria asked raising her eyes away from her grandson for the first time.

"Me and River got two little girls, twins. They're just about ta turn four." Mal explained.

"I can't believe I have three grandchildren. It makes me feel old." She said with a laugh. "May I see them, your daughters I mean?"

"They're sleepin but we could peek in on em." Mal replied and gestured for Maria to follow him.

Mal remained in the hallway pacing with the newborn boy while Maria slipped silently into the twins' room. She reappeared fifteen minutes later, her eyes shining with unshed tears, but she was smiling.

"My goodness how do you tell them apart?" She asked as they walked to the galley together.

"Once ya get to know em it ain't hard at all." Mal assured her.

Maria yawned suddenly and stretched. "Thank you again for everything. I used to dream about finding my children, but I never imagined it would be like this."

"Well it ain't like I did it just out the kindness of my heart. You're helpin save my wife's life, I'm the one who should be thankin you." Mal responded.

"Well I guess we all have much to be thankful for." She agreed. "Goodnight Malcolm." She added and headed towards her bunk.

Mal sat down wearily on the couch but the baby began to wail as soon as Mal stopped moving. Sighing wearily he stood up and began his pacing again. He knew it was going to be a long night, but despite how exhausted he was, he felt more at peace and hopeful than he had in the last two months.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Chapter 21

"Hey there bao-bei." Mal whispered as he leaned over and kissed his wife gently on the lips.

Gabriel had taken Simon and River out of cryo a few hours earlier and both of them were now laid out in the infirmary. Mal cringed when he looked at the life support machine that Simon was again hooked up to, he was thankful that River didn't need to be on it as well and felt sympathy for Kaylee having to see her husband hooked up to so many machines.

"When are they gonna wake up?" Mal asked Gabriel as he ran a hand absently through River's hair.

"Not until after the antivirus begins to take effect. I'm keeping them sedated for now, it will help keep their fevers down since the virus will begin to affect them again now that they're out of cryo." Gabriel explained as he busied himself with some sort of medical thing that Mal didn't know the purpose of.

"So how confident are you that this is gonna work?" Mal asked.

Gabriel glanced up from the scan he was reading and furrowed his brow as he looked at his son in law.

"You want my medical opinion or how I feel as a father?" Gabriel asked.

"Um… both I guess." Mal replied uncertainly.

"Medically speaking I'm fairly certain that it will be successful. The antivirus worked well on Zoe and the girls with only one set of genomes, with both sets of genomes I'm confident it should work just as well on Simon and River."

"And as a father?"

"As a father I'm scared to death that maybe I messed up and I'll end up losing both my children." Gabriel admitted.

"I'm sure ya didn't mess up. You're a good doc." Mal complimented.

"Thank you Mal, I hope you're right." Gabriel replied and moved over to inject a clear substance into River's i.v.

"So is that it?"

Gabriel nodded as he injected another syringe into Simon's i.v. "Yes this is it."

"How long will it take ta work?" Mal asked.

"If the antivirus worked their fevers should start going down by this evening as for how long it will take them to fully recover I'm afraid that could be awhile. Not only will they have to recover from the virus but from being in cryo as well." Gabriel explained.

"Well s'long as they recover I don't care how long it takes." Mal replied and pulled up a chair to sit next to his wife.

Kaylee entered a few minutes later and took a seat beside Simon.

"How's my engine holdin up mei-mei?" Mal asked.

"Runnin fine, but ya know we're gonna have ta set down for fuel in the next couple a days." Kaylee reminded him.

"I know, just got this feelin soon as we set down somewhere the Feds'll be all over us." Mal said with a sigh.

"Yeah well floatin around in the black without fuel ain't good either." She countered.

"Alright I get yer point." Mal grumbled and left the room to instruct Zoe to put in a heading for a fuel station.

Mal and Kaylee kept a vigil beside their spouse for the rest of the day, anxiously waiting for Dr. Tam to tell them that the antivirus was working. Maria spent the day watching the twins and the new baby, reveling in every second she could spend with her grandchildren.

"So Gabriel s'there any change?" Mal asked nervously at nine pm that night. Gabriel had checked his children every hour throughout the day and so far they'd seen no improvement in either of the siblings.

Gabriel's face broke into a smile as he finished taking River's temperature.

"Her fevers down by two degrees and her vitals are much stronger." Gabriel announced happily.

Mal let out the breath he'd been holding and fell forward onto River. "Ya hear that bao-bei, yer dad says yer gettin better." He whispered emotionally into his wife's ear.

"What about Simon?" Kaylee asked anxiously as Gabriel finished examining him.

"His fever is down about half a degree." Gabriel replied.

Kaylee's smiling face fell, "That's all?" She asked with a trembling voice.

"Well the virus was much more aggressive in Simon, its going to take longer for his body to fight it off. His fever is down Kaylee, that's what's important. The antivirus is working its just working slowly." Gabriel assured her as he put a comforting hand on his daughter in law's shoulder.

Kaylee nodded and wiped the tears from her eyes.

A soft knock on the door drew all three of their attention away from the two patients. Maria stood in the doorway with Kaylee's son in her arms and the twins peering around her legs.

"Kaylee I'm sorry to interrupt but your son is hungry." Maria explained and nodded down to the tiny boy who'd begun to fuss.

Kaylee gave Mal a tight smile and left to feed her son. Gabriel excused himself at the same time to get something to eat.

"May we come in?" Maria asked after Kaylee and Gabriel had departed.

"Course ya can." Mal said warmly.

The twins hurried over to their father and eagerly climbed onto his lap so that they could see their mother asleep on the table.

"Is momma better daddy?" Anna asked.

"She's getting there baby. Yer Grandpa says that medicine is workin s'just gonna take some time." Mal assured his daughter and placed a kiss on top of each of their heads.

"You think she's dreamin bout us?" Haven wondered.

"I'm sure she is baby doll." Mal replied.

While the girls chattered away to their unconscious mother Mal glanced over at Maria who was standing beside Simon.

"Gabriel says he's gonna be alright." He comforted when he saw the worried look on her face.

Maria nodded and wiped tears off of her cheeks. "I'm sure he will be. Its so strange seeing both of them. They look just like how I always saw them."

"Can I ask how ya knew what they looked like? I mean them drawings ya did were so real, s'like ya been lookin at em everyday." Mal asked.

"I don't really know. I just always knew what they looked like. They were always inside my head… and my heart." Maria explained wistfully.

"Well I better get these two munchkins ta bed." Mal said as he stood up and put one girl on each hip.

"Ah daddy can't we stay here till mommy wakes up?" Haven whined.

"She ain't gonna be wakin up fer quite a bit girls. When she does wake up she's gonna want ta see ya all happy, not tired and grouchy." Mal responded.

Haven stuck out her lower lip and gave her father a pouty look but didn't argue further.

When Mal returned to the infirmary he found that Maria had left to go to bed and Gabriel was nodding off in a chair between his children.

"Why don't ya go get some sleep, I can stay here with em." Mal suggested.

Gabriel sat up and winced as his neck cracked loudly. "I guess sleeping in an actual bed for awhile would be good. Come get me if anything changes." Gabriel instructed as he headed towards his bunk.

"Shhhh…Vee walk quieter or daddy's gonna wake up."

"He won't hear me he's snorin too loud."

River could hear her daughter's arguing quietly back and forth, but their voices seemed to be coming from far away. Finally after what seemed like hours of struggling River managed to open her eyes and was greeted with the sight of her two daughters staring at her.

"Told ya she was gonna wake up now." Vee teased to her sister.

"Hi mommy, you've been asleep fer a real long time." Anna whispered to her mother.

"Grandpa made you all better and guess what? We got a grandma now!" Vee exclaimed happily.

River opened her mouth to reply but her throat was so dry all that came out was a hoarse cough.

Mal's eyes snapped open at the sound of his wife's cough. Looking around frantically Mal saw Haven and Annabelle talking to River who was now awake.

"Bao-bei yer awake." He whispered, his voice cracking with relief and then gathered River into his arms.

"How long?" River whispered so softly that Mal could barely hear her.

He hurried to the sink and filled a cup with water. River was so weak he had to hold her head up while she sipped at the water and coughed a bit more.

"How long has it been?" She asked again, her voice stronger after the water.

"S'been almost two months, took us quite awhile ta find yer Ma and then yer Dad had ta make the antivirus. But he says its workin, yer gonna be just fine bao-bei." Mal assured her and again hugged his wife to him.

"Daddy we wanna hug mommy too!" Anna exclaimed, both girls finally losing their patience.

Mal helped the girls up so that they were perched on the bed, one on each side of their mother.

"We missed you lots mommy." Haven sniffled.

"Missed you girls too, very much." River whispered. "Love you my angels."

"Love you too mommy." The girls said simultaneously and then bent forward to hug their mother gently.

"Girls I need ya to go get yer Grandpa so he can check on yer mama." Mal instructed as he lifted each girl down from the table.

"They've gotten bigger." River remarked once the twins had left the infirmary.

"Yeah they're both growin like weeds." Mal agreed.

River glanced over to where her brother lay on the other table, still unconscious and hooked up to a multitude of machines and tubes.

"How is he?"

"He's doin alright, yer dad says it's just gonna take a bit fore he's better since he was a lot sicker than you." Mal replied.

"The baby?"

"Doin just fine, it's a boy." Mal answered.

"Zoe?"

"She's just fine too. Everybody's doin just fine." Mal assured her.

"What did the girls mean about a grandmother?" River asked after a few seconds of contemplation.

"River we found yer ma, I mean yer real one. The Feds had her locked up in a nut house, but she ain't crazy. You'll meet her tomorrow, she can't wait ta meet you. The damn Alliance kept tellin her ya'll weren't real. But she wouldn't listen to em so they kept her locked up." Mal explained.

River swallowed and drew in a shaky breath. "She wanted me? I mean she wanted to be my mother?"

"Course she did, it's been just about killin her waitin fer ya'll ta wake up, she loves ya very much bao-bei."

River smiled brilliantly at her husband's words and Mal felt his heart melt.

"Oh bao-bei it's been way too long since I seen that smile. Love you so much." Mal whispered and then fell against River's shoulder allowing himself to cry for the first time since River had been put into the cryo unit.

"Love you too ai-ren." River whispered. "Love you too."


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Chapter 22

"How long's it gonna take ta get us refueled?" Mal asked Zoe as he hurried onto the bridge.

"Least two hours Sir." Zoe informed him without looking up from the Cortex screen.

Mal grunted in frustration at being stuck on the refueling station longer than he'd like.

"Well get us outta here fast as possible, I still got the feeling that hundan Syler is gonna be on ta us if'n we're here too long."

"Soon as we're fueled I'll have us back in the Black." She assured him finally looking up and giving him an assuring smiled.

"Thanks Zo." He said in a calmer tone of voice and squeezed Zoe's shoulder once in gratitude.

"Is Simon awake yet?" Zoe asked.

"Not yet. Gabriel took him off the life support half an hour ago and he's doin good on his own so far." Mal explained.

Zoe nodded and smiled up at Mal, "Good to hear Sir."

"I'm gonna go out and take Kaylee's place so's she can go sit with Simon. You ok watchin things up here?" Mal asked as he turned to leave the room.

"Not a problem Sir, you mind sendin Jayne up if'n ya see him?" Zoe asked.

Mal nodded and gave Zoe a lewd wink before walking out of the room.

"Mei-mei go sit with yer husband, I got things under control." Mal instructed Kaylee.

Kaylee stood in the holding deck of the refueling station looking skeptically at the crew of men who were fueling and cleaning Serenity. She hated having other people working on her girl and wasn't happy about not being there to supervise them. But Simon would always come before Serenity, so she left her girl in the Captain's hand and hurried back to the infirmary, stopping only to check on her son who was still fast asleep in the cradle Mal had dug out of storage for him.

River was awake when Kaylee entered the infirmary and being examined by her father.

"Hey River how ya feelin?" Kaylee asked as she hugged her sister in law warmly.

"Tired," River admitted. "But not sick anymore." She added happily.

"How's Simon doin?" Kaylee asked as she took a seat beside her husband and grasped his hand tightly.

Gabriel took Simon's temperature before answering Kaylee. "His temperature is still elevated but only by three degrees, he's doing much better." Gabriel assured her.

"Ya'll ready?" Jayne asked as he entered the room.

"We're ready." River insisted.

"I promised River that if her temperature was back to normal I would let her return to her room. Jayne was kind enough to volunteer to help her get there." Gabriel explained to Kaylee.

"I'll stop by and visit ya later River." Kaylee promised.

"Come get us when he wakes up." River instructed as Jayne carried her out of the room.

"I will." Kaylee promised.

Simon opened his eyes to see Kaylee sitting beside him. Her head was resting on the bed next to his arm and she was fast asleep. He looked around in confusion wondering how he'd ended up in the infirmary on board Serenity, the last thing he remembered was going to bed with Kaylee in his old bedroom at his father's house.

"Kaylee?" He tried to say, but found that his throat was sore and raw he couldn't even make so much as a whisper of sound.

Using every bit of strength he possessed he managed to raise his right hand enough to brush his thumb across Kaylee's forehead. Kaylee frowned in her sleep at the touch and opened her eyes in confusion, the confusion turned to a look of joy a second later when she saw who had awakened her.

"Simon? Oh Simon you're awake. I missed you so much ai-ren!" She exclaimed and put her head down on Simon's chest and began to sob.

Simon again brushed a hand through Kaylee's hair and waited while she took a deep breath and stopped crying. Kaylee finally looked up at her husband and gave him a smile. Simon felt his heart clench at the sight, she was so beautiful.

"What?" He mouthed silently hoping Kaylee could read his lips.

"Don't try'n talk ai-ren, yer dad said yer throats gonna be real sore for a few days. You got real sick at yer dad's place and he had to put you on life support, but he found the antivirus and yer gonna be fine now." Kaylee explained.

Simon allowed the doctor part of himself to take over for a few seconds. The raw throat had been caused by the tube that had breathed for him he realized. It struck a note of terror into him to think about the fact that he'd come so close to death, so close to leaving Kaylee and their unborn child alone.

"How long?" He mouthed.

"How long have you been asleep?" Kaylee asked and received a nod from Simon.

"S'been almost two months ai-ren." Kaylee revealed and saw Simon's eyes widen in shock.

"You and River got so sick we had ta put both of ya into cryo till we could find yer ma and get the antivirus made." Kaylee continued.

"My mother?" He asked silently.

"She's here Simon!" Kaylee told him excitedly. "Mal and yer dad found her locked up in a mental hospital on Bernadette. She ain't crazy though, the Feds were just keepin her there so's she couldn't tell no one bout you and River. She's real nice Simon and she loves ya a lot. Plus she's real good with the kids."

It was Kaylee using the word kids that made Simon do the math on how long he had been unconscious. If it really had been two months then it was well past Zoe's due date.

"The baby?" He mouthed.

"It's a boy Simon! We have a son. He's so beautiful, he looks just like ya. And he's such a good baby, hardly ever cries less he's hungry. Oh and Zoe's doin just fine too, yer dad delivered him three weeks ago." Kaylee exclaimed joyfully.

Simon's face broke into a wide grin at the news that he was the father to a healthy baby boy. While Kaylee allowed him time to adjust to all the news she had given him Kaylee busied herself filling a glass of water for Simon. Simon smiled gratefully at the offered water and took a drink. After the water Simon coughed and cleared his throat and again tried to speak.

"Love you." He managed to squeak out in a small hoarse whisper.

"I love you too ai-ren, I'm so glad yer with me again." Kaylee whispered and began to cry again.

Simon wanted to hold his wife more than anything, but he was so weak he could only manage to pick her hand up and hold it.

"The baby, can I see him?" He managed to get out.

"Course you can love. I'll go get him, but after that I gotta get yer dad so he can take a look at ya." Kaylee replied and hurried out of the room.

When she entered the room a few minutes later she was carrying a small bundle in her arms. Before showing him the baby Kaylee moved the bed so that Simon was sitting up. He was still too weak to hold the baby on his own so Kaylee climbed onto the bed beside her husband and cradled the baby against Simon.

Simon's mind seemed to stop working in the moment that he laid eyes on his son. The baby was asleep in his fuzzy blanket and Simon though he'd never seen anything so amazing in his entire life. He had a head full of dark hair just like Simon's and rosy pink cheeks that looked just like Kaylee's. Simon ran a finger down the baby's soft cheek and across his tiny hand that was clutched under his chin. At Simon's touch that baby opened his fist and grasped Simon's finger, squeezing it tightly.

"What's his name?" Simon whispered.

"I ain't named him yet ai-ren. Couldn't name him without you there ta help." She explained. "But I was kinda thinkin maybe we could name him Gabriel after yer dad. He's done so much for us; he made you and River better, and Zoe and the girls and the baby, plus he delivered the baby. But if ya don't want to we can think of another name. I thought we could call him Gabe."

"You want to name him after my father?" Simon asked.

"Well yeah, but only if you want to."

"It's perfect. How bout Andrew for his middle name, after your father?" Simon suggested.

"Gabriel Andrew Tam, sounds like a good strong name ta me." Kaylee agreed and gave Simon another dazzling smile.

"So what do you think of him?" Kaylee asked nearly ten minutes later. Simon hadn't looked up from his son once in that time.

"He's perfect my love. Just like you. Thank you for giving me a beautiful son." Simon whispered. He continued to gaze at his wife and son drinking in the sight of them and trying to burn it into his brain. Despite everything that had happened looking at them made him realize he was the luckiest man in the Verse.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

"Mal? Mal?!" Jayne yelled as he stomped onto the bridge.

"What the hell you yellin bout Jayne?" Mal snapped grumpily without turning around from the helm.

"What are we doin?" Jayne complained as he plopped heavily into the co-pilot's chair.

"Well I currently am checkin our course heading and you are buggin the go se outta me while I'm doin it. Anything else I can help ya with?" Mal snapped back.

Jayne gave Mal a withering glance and snorted loudly. "No stupid I mean what're we doin in general? We been floatin around the ass end a the galaxy for three gorram weeks. We just gonna stay here till the food runs out and we all starve?"

Mal sighed loudly and looked out to the Black without replying. He remained that way for so long that Jayne finally took the Captain's shoulder and turned Mal so that he was facing the other man.

"Mal? Gorram it I asked you a question!" Jayne snapped.

Mal slapped Jayne's hand away angrily and was instantly on his feet staring down at the Merc's face.

"Don't you ever grab me ya son of a bitch!" Mal screamed into Jayne's face.

Jayne was instantly on his feet and staring straight back at the Captain, their faces only inches apart.

"Then answer me when I'm talkin to ya! What the hell are we doin?" Jayne shouted once again.

"I don't know Jayne! I just don't gorram know! Alright is that what you wanted to hear?" Mal screamed at the top of his lungs.

The two men stood deadlocked, fists clenched and faces red, neither one sure what to say or do. It was when a delicate pair of white hands pushed between them and guided them both back to their seats that either of them even breathed again.

Both men sat down in the chairs and looked up at River who was staring down at them with a stern look on her face.

"It's the middle of the night cycle." She said simply.

Mal sighed loudly and looked down to the floor. "I know love, I'm sorry." He whispered.

"Look Mal I didn't mean ta start nothin, ok?" Jayne stated.

Mal looked up at the other man and shrugged. "Weren't yer fault Jayne, I'm sorry I yelled at ya."

Mal stood up and brushed past River and then began to pace back and forth.

"I just don't know what we should do. We can't hide out here forever, I know that, but the minute we set down somewhere Syler and the Alliance are gonna be all over us." He explained as he continued to pace.

River put a hand on Mal's shoulder and stilled his pacing.

"Ai-ren it's going to be alright. We've come this far, we can face whatever else the Alliance throws at us." River encouraged gently.

Mal gathered his wife into his arms and rested his chin on her head. "I'll set a heading fer the SkyPlex, we need ta refuel, mayhaps we can find a job while we're there." He said quietly into her hair.

Jayne moved quietly past the embraced couple giving Mal's upper arm a squeeze to show his forgiveness before leaving the room.

"You really think we can take whatever else the Alliance has got in store for us? S'only been three weeks since you woke up, not sure I can handle almost losin you again." Mal asked River as he continued to hold her tightly.

"But you didn't lose me and things worked out very well for us." River countered.

"River you and Simon almost died, so did Zoe and the kids, I'm not seein how we can count that as workin out well for any of us." Mal argued.

"Not saying it wasn't terrible ai-ren, but I have a mother and father now because of it, and the girls have grandparents. All things considered I think thinks worked out well for us." River pointed out.

"Well I guess you're right about that. The girls do seem ta be pretty attached to Gabriel and Maria, and it is kinda nice havin more family on the boat." Mal agreed as he allowed River to take his hand and lead him to their bunk.

Nine days after his blow out on the bridge with Jayne, Mal stood on ramp of Serenity looking out over the busy fueling bay of the SkyPlex. It had been over a month since he'd seen any human beings besides his family on the ship, but instead of seeing the bustling crowd as a welcome change, he eyed them with suspicion, knowing that anyone of the people he was looking at were a potential threat to those he loved.

Gabriel moved to stand beside Mal and looked out at the crowd as well.

"I never thought I could be so scared just looking at a crowd of people." Gabriel commented, echoing Mal's thoughts.

"I hear ya, sooner we're back in the Black the better." Mal agreed.

"Daddy Uncle Jayne's gonna take us fer an Ice Planet!" Haven screamed at nearly the top of her lungs.

Mal turned around to find Jayne carrying both girls in his arms. "River said it'd be ok if I took the girls out fer a bit, since you got stuff ta do and she can't leave the ship."

"I promise I'll look after 'em Mal." Jayne added when he saw the look of worry cross the Captain's face.

Mal wanted to protest, but couldn't deny the girls when he saw the hopeful looks on his daughter's faces. As much as he wanted to protect them, he also realized that he couldn't keep them locked up forever.

"Alright well you girls have fun, but you stay right with yer Uncle Jayne." Mal relented.

Once the ship was refueled Mal hurried to the postal outlet. He hoped that among the parcels and letters might be word from a contact about a job of some sort.

Between the money the crew had made years ago when River rigged the lottery and Gabriel's wealth money wasn't really an issue, but they needed something to do and focus on before everyone on the ship went space crazy.

Mal busied himself in the cargo bay sorting the mail into piles for each crew member. Like usual the bulk of the mail was for Kaylee and Jayne, whose families wrote them regularly. There were also a few generic pieces of bulk mail for ship owners, but to his dismay nothing that appeared to be from a contact.

Just as he had reached the bottom of the pile Mal found a simple white envelope addressed to him. The letter looked entirely unremarkable until he looked at the return address.

He squatted back onto his haunches and continued to stare at the letter without opening it.

"Ai-ren have you forgotten how to read?" River asked from above him on the catwalk.

Mal glanced up at his wife and shrugged his shoulders. "Mayhaps so cause I've read the front a this envelope bout ten times and I still don't think I'm readin it right."

River gave him a curious look and hurried down to read the envelope over his shoulder.

"Why would they be writing you?" River asked.

"Darlin I got absolutely no clue whatsoever." Mal replied.

"Well there is only one way we'll ever find out." River suggested.

Mal nodded his agreement and ripped the envelope open, inside was a one page letter written on expensive but plain stationary. The couple each read the letter at least three times before turning to each other with wide surprised eyes.

"Huh?" River exclaimed, making a perfect imitation of her husband at his most confused.

"Well guess that answers the question of where we're gonna go now." Mal exclaimed as continued to read the letter over and over.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Author's note- So I know it has been forever since I updated this story. I'm sorry to all of you who stuck with this story arc only to have me stop. Life just gets in the way sometimes I guess. But I promise I will try to continue to update this story until it is finished. Oh and thank you to all of you who have reviewed this story.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

"Daddy look at what we got!" Annabelle screeched as she came bounding into the cargo bay with her younger sister close at her heels. Both girls were holding the melted dripping remains of an Ice Planet and each looked like they had spent more time rubbing the frozen treats onto their faces and hair than actually eating them.

Behind the girls Jayne came slowly trudging into the ship, he looked as if he'd just run a marathon and his arms were full of bright pink bags labeled _The Pretty Princess Shop_.

Mal quickly folded the letter and stood up with River following closely behind him.

"Jayne looks like ya had yerself a nice shoppin spree. Find some good bargains there did ya?" Mal teased as he gestured to the bright pink bags the Merc was currently setting on the ground.

"Ha ha, that's real funny Mal." Jayne muttered.

"Mommy Uncle Jayne took us to the princess store, and they had lotsa dresses and crowns and stuff." Haven screamed all the while jumping up and down excitedly.

"Just how much sugar did you allow my four year olds to have Jayne?" River asked and gestured to the twins who were so hyper they were practically vibrating.

"Hey the Ice Planet place was all the way up on the fourth level. These two seemed ta think we needed ta get every other type a treat between here and there." Jayne said.

"And just how many treats did that include?" River pushed.

"Well there was them doughnut sugar things, and the chocolates, and then there was these pretzel things all covered in cinnamon." Jayne listed.

"Ohh and those big cookies!" Annabelle added.

Mal and River exchanged a look before they each turned to glare at Jayne.

"So yer sayin ya gave em each the equivalent of a years worth of sugar in one afternoon? They ain't gonna sleep fer a week Jayne, how come ya just didn't tell em no?" Mal exclaimed.

"Cause every time I said no they got all teary eyed and then their lower lips would start doin that shaky thing." Jayne complained.

"Ah hell Jayne ya know good and well that whole cryin thing is an act! Ya just got be tough with em and lay down the law." Mal yelled.

Haven approached her father and tugged on the bottom hem of his shirt.

"Daddy you ain't mad at Uncle Jayne are ya? Cause he was just tryin ta make me and Anna happy." She asked in a trembling voice, with wide eyes and a quivering bottom lip.

Mal instantly crouched to his knees and pulled Haven into a hug. "No baby girl I ain't mad at yer Uncle Jayne." He insisted quietly.

River snorted with laughter and rolled her eyes at her husband. "Yes Mal you are the very essence of tough. I love how you laid down the law with them." She laughed sarcastically.

"I'm going to get these two in a bath, Mal you should show the letter to the others, see what they think." River suggested as she grabbed the sticky hands of the twins and pulled them towards the washroom.

"What letter?" Jayne asked curiously.

Without a word Mal handed the paper over to Jayne and waited while the Merc read the letter. Jayne's forehead wrinkled in confusion and doubt as he reread through the short letter a second time.

"Huh? You think it's on the level?" Jayne asked and handed the paper back to Mal.

"Don't know. Could give us a good place ta settle for a bit if it is." Mal replied.

"Could be another Alliance set up." Jayne countered.

"Yeah thought a that possibility too." Mal agreed.

"Sir we're ready to head out." Zoe called down from the catwalk as she headed into the cargo bay from the bridge.

"Right Zo I'll get us out of Atmo, can ya gather everyone up in the galley for me?" Mal asked.

Zoe nodded and left in search of the other adults while Mal headed to the bridge to take them off of the SkyPlex.

Once Mal had set a heading he hurried to the galley where Jayne and Zoe had helped to gather the rest of the adults together.

Maria and Gabriel sat together at one end of the talking amiably with each other.

Simon and Kaylee were on the old sofa making faces at baby Gabriel who was looking up at his parents like they were both feng-le. Simon was still paler and skinnier than he'd been before the illness, but was looking healthier than he had in months.

Mal cleared his throat and waited for the chatter to die down before pulling the letter out of his back pocket and holding it up in the air.

"I got an interesting bit of post today, thought I'd better run it by everyone." Mal explained as he took his usual seat at the table.

Kaylee and Simon both moved over to the table, their faces an equal mix of curiosity and trepidation.

Mal cleared his throat once more and began reading the letter aloud.

_Captain Malcolm Reynolds,_

_Despite a through and lengthy investigation by Alliance officials and our own personal staff the whereabouts of Miss Inara Serra are still tragically unknown._

_It is the agreement of the Alliance and the Companion's Guild that Miss Inara Serra be declared legally deceased at this time._

_In accordance with the wishes of Miss Serra all of her personal and financial belongings are to be transferred into the hands of the crew of the Firefly class transport ship Serenity. _

_The details of Miss Serra's bank account can be found on the enclosed data stick. All of her personal possessions including; artwork, clothing, journals, books, and any other miscellaneous items have been packaged and stored in her summer estate located on the planet of Pelorum. Titles, deeds, and location of the property are included on the data stick as well._

_While we at the Guild did not support Miss Serra's decision to live on board Serenity, we understand that she became close with many members of the crew and offer our condolences to those who may be grieving for Miss Serra._

_If you have any questions or concerns regarding Miss Inara Serra's will that are not answered by the information contained in the data stick feel free to contact any Guild house who can direct your inquiry to our legal department._

_With Regards,_

_Jasmine Ugato, Director of Legal Affairs, Guild of Companions_

Silence followed Mal's reading of the letter as each crew member stared at each other in disbelief. The Captain could see the skepticism he'd felt written clearly on everyone's faces.

"I'm thinkin that summer estate on Pelorum could be just the place we're lookin for to take our ease for awhile. We could stop running, have time to catch our breath, and figure out just what we're gonna do next." Mal explained.

"We can't trust this Mal, even if this isn't a setup by Syler and the Academy, the Alliance will still know about it. If we go to Pelorum, they'll be waiting for us." Simon argued.

"That's exactly why we have to go their Simon." River said calmly as she stepped into the room.

"It's time to stop running, time to stop hiding, time to show the Alliance exactly what they created." She stated determinedly.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

"Wow would ya look at this place!" Jayne exclaimed and let out a whistle as he craned his head up to take in the full height of the room.

Everyone crowded into the foyer of the summer house that Inara had left to them. The house was so large and grand that it made the Tam estate on Osiris look like a fisherman's hut. The entire house was made of light colored wood and huge windows, it had an open airy feeling to it that Mal immediately appreciated.

The Captain left the group in the foyer and made his way into the large living room to stare out the long floor to ceiling windows. Outside the windows was a view that took the breath away. The house had been built on top of a large hill, a wide sloping green lawn spread away from the house for nearly a mile before stopping at the beginning of a dense forest of pine trees that continued on as far as the eye could see.

Mal leaned his forehead against the sun warmed glass and took a deep breath trying to calm his nerves. If River was right the Alliance could come down on them at any moment and he could only hope that they were prepared for whatever it was that Syler would send their way. Suddenly River's skinny white arms wrapped around Mal's chest and her hands linked together over his heart.

River nestled her head between Mal's shoulder blades as she hugged him from behind. She took a deep breath and let herself get lost in the intoxicating scent of her husband. Mal wrapped his hand around River's and gave them a comforting squeeze.

"So what ya think love? They here yet?" Mal asked.

River was quiet for a moment as she let her mind open and attempted to sense the Alliance vessel.

"Not sure, I think they are close, but it feels like something is blocking me from reading them." River replied fearfully.

"Something's blocking you? Has that ever happened before?" Mal asked as he turned around to look at his wife.

River's brow furrowed and she gave Mal a confused frustrated look. "No. I don't know why I can't feel them. I feel something, but it's so fuzzy."

"Well maybe between you and the rest a your family ya'll can come up with something." Mal said brightly trying to erase the worried look from River's face.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Sir Serenity has landed at the Companion's home just like you said they would."

Syler gave the soldier a wide smile and clapped his hands together. "Perfect! My god they are so predictable, they're almost making this too easy. Finally I have every member of the Tam family in one place. It took time, but this capture will be remembered for centuries."

"Should we set down and initiate the capture?" The soldier asked quietly, breaking Syler out of the gleeful daze he'd fallen into.

Syler shook his head. "Not yet I don't want to risk any of the Tams sensing our presence."

"But I thought the neural inhibitor on the ship would stop them from being able to read us." The soldier remarked, sounding confused.

"It's never been fully tested, I'm not taking any chances this time. There can be no mistakes. I will have every member of the Tam family in my possession!" Syler shouted.

The young soldier stepped back from Syler and nodded. "Yes sir. Should I send a wave to command and let them know of our progress?"

"Not yet. I don't want anyone to know where the Tam's are until they've been apprehended. Any outside knowledge could get to the readers and then everything will be for nothing. We'll hit them tonight once everyone has gone to sleep, the readers won't sense us as easily while they are sleeping."

"Very well Sir." The soldier saluted quickly and hurried from the room after giving his commander one last worried glance.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Later that evening Mal and River sat outside in a whicker rocking seat and watched as their twins ran around on the wide green lawn. The twins laughed and shrieked as they kicked and chased a ball across the grass.

"They're happy." River commented as she leaned against her husband.

"Yep, they were like this on Osiris too. They like the outdoors." Mal remarked. "Maybe it's about time we settled down somewhere permanent like."

"But you love living in the Black." River protested.

"I do. But I love them a hell of a lot more." Mal reasoned and nodded his head towards the twins.

"Every time I think you can't get anymore wonderful you go and prove me wrong." River whispered and snuggled closer to her husband.

They stayed outside late that night, letting the girls stay up past their bed times. Once the sun had gone down the girls climbed onto the rocker with their parents.

"Look daddy there's another one!" Haven laughed as she pointed to the firefly that was glowing near them.

"So Serenity is called a Firefly cause she looks like one a these bugs?" Anna asked skeptically.

"That's right Little Bit." Mal replied.

"I don't think Serenity looks like a bug." Haven pouted.

River kissed the top of her daughter's head and hugged her closer. "Its bed time little ones."

River's statement was met with a chorus of protests from the twins.

"Hey now girls ya heard yer Ma, she says its bedtime and she's the boss." Mal said.

River set Haven on the ground and stood up, but almost immediately slumped back down onto the rocker.

"River love you alright?" Mal questioned instantly concerned.

River drew in a shakey breath and nodded. "I'm fine Mal, I think it's just going to take some time to get over the virus."

Mal nodded sadly and helped River up from the rocker. He put his arm around her waist and helped her into the house with the girls following close behind.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Syler watched the surveillance footage as River Tam was helped into the house by Malcolm Reynolds and smiled gleefully.

River was obviously still weakened from the virus and footage that he'd watched from earlier in the day confirmed that Simon was still somewhat ill as well.

Recapturing the Tams would be much easier with Simon and River incapacitated.

Syler watched the surveillance camera for another few hours until he saw every light in the large estate turn off. When an hour had passed with no lights turning on Syler was almost positive that everyone was fast asleep.

He stood and stretched and then pushed down the comm. button on the wall.

"Yes Sir?" Came the reply from the comm. unit.

"It's time." He replied coldly.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A/N- Alright so I know I said I'd try to update this story more often and then I went and took forever for another chapter again. Sorry it's taking so long but I promise I will get this story finished, eventually. Thanks to all of you who have stuck with it for so long, you're awesome!!!!!


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Syler and his men stalked silently through the forest, the trees came within ten feet of the back of the house and Syler was glad for the cover. At the edge of the trees he stopped his men with a hand signal and then turned to his first in command.

"I want the Tams tranquilized as quietly as possible. River and Simon first, they're the biggest threat. If anyone who isn't a Tam wakes up kill them quickly and quietly, there can be no mistakes this time." Syler whispered.

"What about the others in the house, if they don't wake up what do we do with them?" His lieutenant asked.

"I want everyone else eliminated. There can be no loose ends this time. I don't want anyone left alive who could come after them." Syler instructed.

Syler motioned to his technical supervisor who moved silently to the door and worked for a few minutes to disable the alarm system that protected the house. Once the alarm system was disabled Syler led the team into the sitting room of the large home.

"Spread out, sedate the Tams, and eliminate anyone else. Half doses of sedative for the children, I want them alive!" Syler whispered.

The team spread out silently and moved to clear each room one by one. Syler sat down in a silk covered chair and waited for his team to return with the Tam family.

"Sir the house is empty."

Syler turned to find his lieutenant and the rest of the team gathered in the living room.

"Explain." Syler whispered through clenched teeth.

"No one is here Sir, we've been through every room twice. The house is completely empty." The lieutenant explained and then flinched away from the anger that he knew would be coming.

"That's impossible we've be watching the security cameras constantly, we saw everyone go in and no one has come out! They must be here somewhere, have you checked everywhere? Maybe they are in the cellar, or the attic, maybe there's a crawl space somewhere that they are hiding in." Syler whispered frantically.

"We've used the thermal scanner Sir, it would have picked up their body heat signatures even through the walls. I'm sorry Sir, but they aren't here, I don't know where they are."

Syler grew deadly silent for a few seconds. Suddenly he jumped up from his seat and hurled a vase into the mantel of the fireplace and sending shards of glass spraying across the room. After smashing the vase he began to trash the room around him; he threw whatever he could find, kicked over furniture, and used a fireplace poker to smash the large framed mirror that hung on one wall. After breaking the mirror he stopped and turned to his men.

"Head back to the ship! I want every second of the surveillance footage looked at. The Tams were here just a few hours ago, we know that for a fact. Now they can't have gone far. I want them found and I want them found now!" Syler shouted to his men and then began to again demolish the room in his fit of rage.

The men in Syler's platoon were acutely aware of their commander's temper and knew that he liked to take his anger out on his subordinates when it suited his mood. None of them hesitated to turn and head quickly for the shuttle when he dismissed them.

Syler let out one last angry shriek as he threw the chair he'd been sitting in out one of the large glass windows. Once the murderous rage had passed he took a deep breath and headed out towards the shuttle.

He was nearly to the shuttle when it exploded in front of him. The blast of super heated air lifted him off his feet and threw him back into the wall of the house. He lay sprawled on the ground with his ears ringing and his head throbbing, not quite sure what had happened to him.

Wearily Syler forced his protesting body into a sitting position and took in the site of the burning remains of the shuttle. It was only a few seconds later that a brilliant flash of light lit up the night sky. The explosion was so bright that it almost seemed to be daylight for a few seconds. It was hard to tell from the ground just what it was that had exploded in the sky, but Syler held no illusions that it was anything but his ship.

Syler rested his head in his hands and laughed bitterly. The Tams had managed to out think him once again. He was all alone now, his men dead, and command had no idea where he was. There was no backup coming, Syler realized.

The murderous rage he'd felt a few minutes before began to bubble up within him once again. He forgot all about his orders, he didn't care about the fame of the capture any longer, he wanted one thing and one thing only, River and Simon Tam dead. He didn't care if he had to kill every person on this gorram planet, he didn't care if he lost his own life in the process. If he had to he would give up his very soul to see them dead and buried.


End file.
